Former notary was stunned when a customer showed her a document with her seal from 2 months after she quit. There was no journal entry for it

A former notary worker (u/cybertronfife) from California found themselves in hot water after a former customer’s phone call led them to a shocking realization. Two months after they quit their job, a customer contacted the notary with questions about a power of attorney they supposedly notarized in August. At first, it might have seemed like a normal call, until the person realized they'd already quit the organization in June. Confused, they confronted their ex-employer, who said someone might have used an old template, but a deeper investigation revealed a shocking truth. On September 6, 2026, the author turned to Reddit for advice on how to get out of this muddle. The post has received over 8,000 upvotes. 

A notary mystery

The employee used to work in a small document services office as a commissioned California notary. After quitting their job in June, they took their notary stamp and journal. "Both are currently in my possession, and nobody else has access to them," the author said. Everything was normal until two months later, a former customer called with a question about the power of attorney based on a document they'd notarized in August. "He sent me the PDF. It has my name, commission number, expiration date, what looks exactly like my seal, and a signature that resembles mine," the author said. 

However, the author's journal had no corresponding entry. Confused, they confronted their ex-boss, who dismissed them, saying someone might have used an old template. The worker did some research and got the hunch that their insignia was cropped and copied from the previously notarized documents and was now being misused. “I have no idea whether this happened once or twenty times,” they explained, asking Reddit whether they should report the matter to the California Secretary of State or the police.

Forgery on the rise

Notary stamps are extremely important, and forging one is a serious offense that can undermine the purpose of notarization. Besides, as some Reddit users pointed out, a document services company doesn’t notarize work with a "template." Yet forgeries happen, and they cost both the customers and the employees their hard-earned reputation and probably money too. In fact, a survey by Pactvera recorded a 244% year-over-year increase in digital document forgeries between September 2023 and August 2024.

With the advent of advanced technologies, people can now create forged documents and synthetic identities that are difficult to verify. This makes things challenging for notary workers like the author. For instance, a 2026 study cited by ChamberSign reported that one in five professionals have dealt with a falsified document, and 15% of those have caused a direct financial loss.

'Report immediately to save yourself'

Reddit readers asked the worker to cut contact with the former employer and report the matter. u/Cczaphod commented, “That’s forgery for sure, if not fraud. There’s a reason you have the journal; this is it.” Similarly, u/Reallyyhannahh said, “A similar situation happened to me. I filed a claim with the Secretary of State, and they assigned an agent who opened an investigation. The person ended up being criminally charged.” u/Fast_Beat_3832 remarked, “You need to file a report or lots of things could come back on you.”

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