Many of my dear friends here at Notary Rotary know that my notary commission was recently compromised by a group of individuals out of Mexico posing as a title company right here in Minnesota. The perpetrators went on the Minnesota Secretary of State's website and used my commission number to have a stamp made and stamped it on documents to make them look official when trying to scam people who owned time shares in Mexico out of money. They do not have my stamp. I am in possession of my stamp. They stole my notary identity and had a fake stamp made.
Here is a link to their website which looks very official.
http://advancedescrowservices.com/index.html
It is only a matter of days until the Minnesota Secretary of State's office, The Minnesota Department of Commerce, and The FBI have it taken down, but I thought it was important for you too see what it looks like before it gets taken down. It looks real. This company placed my stamp on a guarantee letter to make it look official. Any notary would know that this is not how we notarize documents, but then the unsuspecting general public would not know that.
Luckily a woman from California called me up and told me that my identity had been stolen in regard to my notary stamp. I obtained a copy of what was notarized, the signature did not match mine, and the stamp they were using was round and Minnesota requires a rectangular stamp. I followed proper protocol per the State of Minnesota and reported it to my local police department, the Minnesota Secretary of States Office, and the Minnesota Department of Commerce. There is nothing more they can or will do for me. They know that it is not me because my signature is on file everywhere and the stamp they used was round not rectangular as Minnesota requires. The detective told me that he is actively pursuing the case as identity theft but does not hold out much hope of finding them as they have traced it to Mexico.
The detective, the Secretary of State, and the Department of Commerce told me that this happens all the time. Usually it is them contacting the notary to inform them that their identity was stolen rather than the notary calling them. They said that unfortunately since everything is public information on the internet, it is the risk we take. The Mexican time share scam has been going on for many years and the Minnesota Department of Commerce actually has a division set up that works these cases. These scam companies have gotten quite elaborate and actually file business names, set up fake addresses, get local telephone numbers, letterhead, websites that have pictures of the people that supposedly work there, and they steal the identities of local notaries, real estate agents, and escrow officers to look legitimate. The Department of Commerce told me that they almost never catch them because they aren't even operating in this country. All they can do is take the complaints and send out cease and desist letters . . . that is all they do.
While we can't stop these savvy criminals from what they do, we can learn to be aware of what is going on out there and learn to protect ourselves the best we can. I believe we as notaries are the only public servant that is required to list our home address on the internet. That has got to change.
This is just another example why we should be compensated fairly in this industry. Our private information is out there for the entire world to see and there is absolutely nothing we can do about it. You never know who can get their hands on it and what they may do with it.
Thank you for listening to my story. Good luck to all, continued success to everyone, and please stay safe out there.
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