Forging checks of $250 or less is punishable by up to one year in jail and a $3,000 fine, but when the amount of the check exceeds $250, the penalty increases to up to five years in prison and a $10,000 fine. Many states focus on the type of documents at issue when determining the applicable punishment.

Bank fraud: A fine of up to $1,000,000 and/or a prison sentence of up to 30 years. Mail and wire fraud: Both carry a maximum prison sentence of up to 20 years. If the scheme also involved a bank, the potential fine increases to up to $100,000: [18 U.S.C. Section 1343]

Criminal penalties According to Chapter 73 of title 18 of the United States Code under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, anyone who knowingly falsifies documents to “impede, obstruct or influence” an investigation shall be fined or face a prison sentence of up to 20 years.

Signing another’s name with permission is not forgery, but be sure that you sign in a way that reveals the permission.

Forgery. Creating “a false document, signature, or other imitation of an object of value used with the intention to deceive another into believing it is the real thing” constitutes forgery, according to Nolo. Therefore, when someone signs your signature for you, that person commits an act of forgery, which is a crime.

If you don’t have a piece of tracing paper handy, you can use a piece of thin white computer paper. Use a pencil to lightly trace the signature. Use a steady hand and slowly trace over the lines, loops and dots in the signature. Try not to shake your hand or pick up the pencil as you trace.

Yes, it is illegal to forge the signature of someone not related to you. It is illegal to forge the signature of someone related to you.

This is the easiest type of forgery to detect because it is usually not close to the appearance of a genuine signature. A tracing can be done by holding the model document and the questioned document up to light and using a pen to trace the lines of the model signature onto the questioned document.

The most common forgeries include money, works of art, documents, diplomas, and identification.