Is It Illegal to Sign a Letter Using Another Person's Name and a Random Signature

[TylerBrown]

My question involves criminal law for the state of: Pennsylvania, and the U.S. at large.

Is it a criminal offense to sign a letter using another person's name, and a totally random signature? Could that be considered identity theft? Or is it protected speech under the First Amendment?

Please answer under the assumption that the letter is not used to make a profit, and that no one has a property interest involved.

I will provide additional details upon request.

Thank you for your time.

[PandorasBox]

More details would be helpful. But I believe you would need authorization from the person to sign their name to documents. A totally random signature suggests you do not have this authorization, nor the permission of anyone.

If you used my signature, for example...I'd be filling out a police report.

[PTPD22]

The laws vary from state to state...and I'm not inclined to do the research specifically for PA. You can do your own homework. However, if you sign another person's name to a document (whether you receive any financial gain or not) without legal authorization to do so, you will generally be committing a crime such as identity theft or forgery. Signing a fictitious name will also generally be forgery. It does not have to be a financial instrument, such as a check or credit card slip. For example, if you sign a gym membership as another person or with a fictitious name (even if you fully pay for the membership) you will likely be committing a crime in any state.

[antrc170]

More details are certainly needed because the any possible charges are going to stem from what is contained in the letter. Signing a ficticious name to a letter is not necessarily a crime; however, if the letter contains information detrimental to another person or company it could be a crime. The country has a long history of people using pen names for a variety of things such as political discourse, etc.

So, whats in the letter and why are you sending it?

[TylerBrown]

The letter contains the personal information of a third party. I believe it's very neutral content.

I can't tell you why I can't sign the letter myself. The name is not fictitious, that person really exists. But the signature is completely random, i.e. I have no idea what that person's signature looks like. It will only fool those who have never seen his actual signature. It won't stand up to scrutiny.

Also, no commercial transaction whatsoever.

[antrc170]

The name is not fictitious, that person really exists. But the signature is completely random, i.e. I have no idea what that person's signature looks like. It will only fool those who have never seen his actual signature. It won't stand up to scrutiny.

If you are using someone else's name, then it is forgery and a crime regardless of the info it contains.

§ 4101. Forgery.

(a) Offense defined.--A person is guilty of forgery if, with intent to defraud or injure anyone, or with knowledge that he is facilitating a fraud or injury to be perpetrated by anyone, the actor:

(1) alters any writing of another without his authority;

(2) makes, completes, executes, authenticates, issues or transfers any writing so that it purports to be the act of another who did not authorize that act, or to have been executed at a time or place or in a numbered sequence other than was in fact the case, or to be a copy of an original when no such original existed; or

[TylerBrown]

I don't intend to defraud or injure anybody. It seems that definition doesn't apply to me.

[aaron]

You have some sort of scheme or purpose in mind. Discuss the details of your plan with your lawyer, as they matter.