A new program available in Tazewell County offers a way to protect notaries from fraudulent use of their legal stamps.
The Notary Fraud Alert system from Fidlar Technologies is a free addition to the county’s existing suite of property fraud protection services from the Iowa-based company.
“Property fraud has been identified by the FBI as the fastest growing white collar crime in the United States. A frequent aspect to this crime is fraudulent notary stamp usage,” Chief Deputy Clerk and Recorder of Deeds Dan Sullivan said at a Thursday news conference.
“The clerk recorder’s top priority is preserving the integrity of our public records. This new alert system empowers notaries with information so they can catch fraudulent activity early, and in doing so, help safeguard the entire community from property fraud and related scams.”
A notary registering for the web-based alert program will be notified whenever a document featuring their name, signature and stamp is recorded in Tazewell County. The notifications can be set for daily, weekly or monthly delivery.
Alex Riggen, president of Fidlar Technologies, said the company began providing Tazewell County with its fraud protection software in 2021, and the new notary alert service comes at no additional cost to the county or residents.
“This takes it another step further to have a second layer of defense of people knowing that sometimes [documents] are recorded fraudulently and how it’s going to affect that property owner, and quicker ways to deal with that,” said Riggen.
“Notary fraud has been out there for a long time, but like any fraudulent scheme, the bad guys, they’re always finding new ways and better ways to try to commit fraud.”
Fidlar currently operates its property fraud services in about 80 Illinois counties, including Woodford, Stark, Logan and Marshall in Central Illinois. Tazewell is among the first 15 counties in the state to add the notary fraud alerts.
Riggen said the company is open to adding Peoria and McLean counties to the list.
“We talk with any Illinois county that’s interested — whether they just want to offer a notary fraud alert and property fraud alert, or if they want the full contract,” he said.
Sullivan said statistics show millions of dollars are lost nationwide each year through property fraud schemes, and Tazewell County is no exception.
He noted one particular case last year where an individual who owns property in the county but lives in Texas was alerted within 24 hours that scammers from California attempted to sell his property with a deed featuring a notary stamp from New Jersey.
“We were able to get on top of it fast enough. The FBI was notified and in this instance, we actually were able to retrieve the money that was wired and were able to stop that fraud from happening,” said Sullivan.
“The people that thought they were purchasing the property, which unfortunately they were not because the scammer was claiming he was the rightful owner and he was not, they were able to get their money back from the transaction.”
Anyone interested in registering for Tazewell County’s property fraud and notary fraud alerts can find the information at the county clerk and recorder website.
