Tazewell County launches free notary-fraud alert service for local notaries

Tazewell County announced a new notary fraud alert service intended to give notaries and property owners earlier notice when a recorded document lists a notary’s name. “I am pleased to announce a new fraud prevention tool designed to protect notaries and the community from the growing threat of notary related document fraud,” said Dan Sullivan, chief deputy county clerk and recorder of deeds for Tazewell County.

The system notifies enrolled notaries whenever a document recorded in Tazewell County includes their name. Sullivan said notaries may choose daily, weekly or monthly delivery and that each alert lists the document number, document type and the parties involved, which staff said makes it easier to spot suspicious filings at a glance.

Sullivan framed the program as an extension of the county’s property-fraud work: “This new program joins a portfolio of fraud prevention services offered by the Tazewell County Clerk And Recorder Of Deeds Office, including the property fraud alert program established in 2021 and the fraud referral and review initiative established in 2024,” he said. Sullivan said the service is provided at no cost to Tazewell County taxpayers.

Alex Riggins, introduced at the event as president of Fiddler Technologies, the vendor that indexes notary names and delivers the reports, described how the alerts work and why early notice matters. “This is the same thing of you get that early notification, the notary is watching out for the constituents of of Tazewell County and can take action right there,” Riggins said, drawing an analogy to credit-card fraud alerts.

County officials recounted a reported case in which a Tazewell County property owner who lived in Texas was notified by the county’s property-fraud alert, the FBI was notified, and county officials said some $100,000 or more tied to the fraudulent transaction was recovered. Sullivan said that case involved a notary stamp originating outside the state and that early detection helped limit losses.

Officials answered questions about rollout and coverage. Sullivan said the county has partnered with Fiddler since 2021, that roughly 15 Illinois counties were offering the notary service at the time of the announcement, and that Fiddler’s representatives said the platform partners with about 83 Illinois counties that could add the product. When asked about contract cost and length, officials said the county’s implementation added the notary alert onto existing services at no additional cost and that contract renewal terms are generally renewed every few years; specific contract dollar amounts were not provided.

Officials asked notaries, law firms, title companies and other employers who use notaries to spread the word. To enroll or learn more, officials directed listeners to the Tazewell County clerk web page and the vendor’s notaryfraudalert.com sign-up option. The press conference concluded after staff asked attendees to contact the county clerk’s office for more information.

The county identified Visitor Technologies and Fiddler Technologies as vendors supporting its suite of property-records and fraud-alert services.