Ball-Pointed Pens: Forgery Facilitated

Greymouth Evening Star, 17 March 1947, Page 5

Ball-Pointed Pens: Forgery Facilitated

SYDNEY, March 16. The discovery of the possibility of easy forgery arising from the use of some types of ball-pointed fountain pens has caused consternation among businessmen, bankers, and the police, according to the Sydney Sun, which today publishes the results of a demonstration held before a bank manager and Criminal Investigation Bureau officers. The discovery was made accidentally that the moist heat of the hand could transfer a signature from one document to another.

In the presence of witnesses, a businessman wrote a cheque for £5 He transferred the signature from a letter to the cheque by moistening the edge of his palm and pressing it first on the signature and then on the cheque form and handed the cheque to a Sun representative. The journalist then went to a bank and had no difficulty in obtaining £5. The Criminal Investigation Bureau has carried out similar test, which it acknowledges prove the ease with which fraud could be perpetrated. “These pens are excellent for some purposes, but the possibilities of their use in fraud are so great that we have withdrawn them from our staff,” said one businessman. Bank staffs are examining cheques with particular care, and one bank manager has stated that he will advise clients against using ball-pointed pens for signing cheques and other documents.