Source: https://agentshelf.com/blog/remote-online-notarization-deepfakes-what-a-notary-can-catch
Published: August 26, 2026
Author: Jason Hernandez
Category: Commentary

Remote online notarization (RON) has been a convenience for several years. Although in Louisiana it is effecitvely prohibited for use in real estate closings. Signers don't have to travel, schedules are easier, and the session is recorded. It also created a new place for fraud to happen: a video call where the person on screen may not be who they claim to be.

I wrote earlier about [seller impersonation](/blog/seller-impersonation-fraud-is-rising) and about [voice-clone wire fraud](/blog/voice-clone-wire-fraud-closing-table). Notarization is the next link in that chain, and it is worth being clear about what a notary actually does.

## What a notary is there to do

A notary's job is to confirm the **identity of the person signing** and that they are signing willingly. That's all. A notary doesn't confirm that the signer owns the property, has authority to sell it, or is the person named in the land records. Those actions belong to the title company and closing attorney.

That's fine when the identity check is reliable. RON platforms typically combine a scan of a government ID, knowledge-based questions, and a live video session. The trouble is that each of those has become easier to beat.

## Where the checks are getting weaker

Some of the more pointed criticism of RON comes from vendors selling fraud tools, so it should be read with that in mind. One title-industry vendor argued in May that a RON security model built around 2018 and 2019 threats doesn't hold up against real-time deepfakes. It claimed that ID scans verify the document and not the person holding it, and that knowledge-based questions can be answered using data from past breaches. The post cited no outside evidence, so I would treat it as a warning and not a measurement.

The industry's own response points in the same direction. Proof, the platform formerly known as Notarize, added deepfake analysis to its identity verification in 2024, using Reality Defender's detection models. Secured Signing has added a deepfake detection feature for notaries. The Maryland case I wrote about earlier, a fake seller on a video notarization for a vacant land sale of roughly $100,000, was caught by the platform's detection software.

That last point illustrates the reality of the cybersecurity fraud industry. Detection works some of the time, and fraudsters will keep testing it. It is an arms race.

## The second check

Because the notary's check is only about identity, the most useful defense is outside the notary session:

- **Match the signer to the record.** Does the name on the ID match the vesting in the public records, with the same spelling and the same middle name or initial?
- **Verify through an independent channel.** Contact the owner through contact information from the record or a prior file, not the details the "seller" supplied.
- **Slow down on the usual risk factors.** Vacant land, out-of-state owners, no mortgage, a rush to close, and a seller-chosen notary all call for more scrutiny.
- **Don't treat a completed notarization as proof of ownership.** It's proof that someone presented an ID and signed.

## What to watch

RON platforms are adding stronger identity checks, including detection tools and repeated checks during a session. That helps, but no single control will settle this. A fake seller's paperwork can look right at every step, and the best chance of stopping it is a second person asking a question the first check never covered.

_- Jason_