While fake IDs are a popular method for underage people to acquire age-restricted products like cigarettes and alcohol, there are much more nefarious uses such as identity theft or synthetic identity fraud. All organizations of business over the years, such as the auto dealership industry or equipment rental houses, have reported an increase in fake ID fraud activity involving fake IDs. Businesses lose thousands of dollars after learning someone took off with a high-end product and disappear without a trace because their credentials were fake. Many people believe you can discern a real ID from a fake one by simply looking it over with your eyes and flashing a blacklight over it. Unfortunately, that hasn’t been the case for a long time since fake IDs have gotten more discernible to the real thing – even down to some basic security features.

Another form of fake ID fraud that is growing increasingly popular with criminals is synthetic identity fraud. This type of fake ID fraud involves fake information combined with real (and most likely stolen) information to create an entirely fictitious identity. Criminals will often use Credit Profile Numbers (CPN) to help create their fake identities, which they use to deceive creditors to borrow money and open accounts. These “phantom borrowers” will then become untraceable after committing the crime and disappearing.

How is a phantom borrower, AKA someone using a synthetic identity, made?

•  Criminals purchase identifying information over the dark web, usually after a huge data breach.
• Using their new fake identity, the criminal will apply for a loan.
• A query to a credit-reporting firm will reveal the identity has no borrowing history, likely resulting in the application getting rejected.
• This query creates a new ‘credit file’, which is a precursor to a credit report. This process creates a new identity.
• The criminal will continue to apply for loans and expand their credit file. After enough attempts, the criminal will get approved with a low credit limit.
• Criminal will use the card and pay the balance on time in order to establish a good credit history.
• The criminal will get more credit cards and accounts. Eventually, they will apply and get approved for a car loan.

Falling victim to fake ID fraud not only results in losses but can also put your business in hot water with the government for not implementing proper compliance checks – especially if you hire someone with a fake ID and you fail to follow I-9 compliance. The safest and best solution to prevent these issues is to implement a forensic fake ID detection scanner to stop these fake IDs in their tracks.

After the scan, it saves images of the front and back of the ID & a close-up of the driver to its database along with the embedded data. It can even capture a live image of the ID presenter and perform a real-time facial comparison to the photo on the document.

Since scanning the barcode or magnetic stripe on the ID isn’t sufficient enough to sniff out high-quality fake IDs with faux advanced security features, a forensic fake ID detection scanner like IDentiFake is the best solution available.