Fake IDs and National Security
May 2018“WORKING TO SECURE THE IDENTITY OF EVERY AMERICAN”

For further questions, visit us online at:www.idsecuritynow.org or email us at: info@idsecuritynow.org

Keeping IDentities Safe

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Keeping IDentities Safe

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Introduction

Contents
Introduction
A Brief History
How Fake IDs are Bought
Who are the Customers?
Marijuana
Guns
AmtrakHotelsHousesCars
Unknown
Trucks
Airports
Recommendations

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Fake IDs are used for so much more thanunderage drinking. Driver’s licenses andstate-issued ID cards have become thepreferred form of identification in the
United States. In addition to being usedas proof of eligibility to operate a motor
vehicle, we use them for a whole host of
purposes ranging from opening a bankaccount to applying for a U.S. passport
to boarding an airplane. Because of theirprevalence in our society, a counterfeit or
fraudulently obtained driver’s license is a
key tool for a thief, criminal, or terrorist to
steal, hide, and travel undetected. That’s
why the 9/11 Commission recommended
that “secure identification should begin in
the United States.”
Today, high quality counterfeit IDs
have become far too easy to obtain.
The internet, social media, the global
economy, and leaps in technology
have made purchasing a near-perfectemulation of almost any state driver’s
license or ID card just a few clicks away.
With nothing but an internet connection
and an address, anyone from anywhere
can order a fake ID shipped to theirdoorstep straight from China. That ID will
have any picture and biographic data thecustomer chooses and will arrive hidden
deep in a package of cheap trinkets andtoys to evade customs detection.

The 9/11 Commission wrote that, “forterrorists, travel documents are asimportant as weapons.”

Once it’s in an impostor’s hands, a fakeID can be used to open bank accounts,
obtain credit cards, travel, evade law
enforcement, and board aircraft - just as
the 9/11 hijackers did. Others have sinceused fake IDs to buy guns, buy explosives,
and rent heavy vehicles. ISIS terrorists
have used fake IDs to rent safe-houses
and cross borders.
The fake ID business is an ever-expanding
industry. New vendors from all over theworld pop up almost every week to satisfy
the exploding demand largely fromcollege campuses across the country. And
there’s no indication of it ever slowing
down. Sadly, most of our gatekeepers
are under-trained to deal with this threat.
For these reasons, terrorists will continue
seeking out our driver’s licenses and ID
cards, which the 9/11 Commission rightly
reported were “as important as weapons,”
to the hijackers.

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Keeping IDentities Safe

A Brief History of Fake IDs and Terrorism
The state issued driver’s license and ID card have long been sought after
by terrorists worldwide in order to rent houses, rent cars, send money, andtravel undetected by law enforcement.
The al-Qaeda Handbook:
Counterfeit driver’s licenses have been a national
security threat since at least 1995, when Timothy
McVeigh hand-made a South Dakota license with aheated iron and typewriter and used it to rent the
Ryder truck he detonated in Oklahoma City.1 Foreign
terrorist organizations have been using them sinceat least 2000, when the al-Qaeda training manual
was first uncovered. Known as “The Manchester
Document” after its recovery from an al-Qaeda
terrorist in Manchester, England, the 18 chapter, 180
page book was a veritable terrorism for dummies,
focusing on how to wage war, techniques forresisting interrogation, and calling for “bullets, theideals of assassination, bombing and destruction,and the diplomacy of the cannon and machine gun.”Under the chapter, “Counterfeit Currency andForged Documents”, the manual proscribes that“all documents of the undercover brother, such as
identity cards and passport, should be falsified.”That book continues to be uncovered fromarrested terrorists all over the world.2 Moreover, theoperational maxim to use fake IDs to avoid detection
has been a staple for terrorists ever since.

The 9/11 Attacks:
The directions outlined in the al-Qaeda training
manual were followed closely by the 9/11 hijackers,
who used over 30 diﬀerent fraudulent IDs between
18 terrorists to open bank accounts, obtain credit
cards, hide from law enforcement, enrol in flightschools, and board the aircraft that took 3,000
lives. This was uncovered in the investigations by
the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks in
the United States, otherwise known as the 9/11
Commission, whose 585 page report delved into
the complex operations employed by the terrorists.
According to that report, the pilot of American
Airlines flight 77 which struck the Pentagon, Hani
Hanjour, held four state-issued IDs alone. All four

pilots involved in the plot were able to obtain
Florida driver’s licenses. Two other hijackers were on
the terrorist watch-list but were still able to obtain
California driver’s licenses. The ensuing investigation
led the 9/11 Commission to write that, “for terrorists,
travel documents are as important as weapons.”3

Recent Attacks:
Almost 20 years later, little has been done to close
the vulnerability that the 9/11 hijackers exploitedwith fake IDs. A slew of recent al-Qaeda, lone wolf,and Hezbollah terror attacks and plots have alsorelied on fake IDs, both here and abroad.
Hosam Smadi was operating with a fraudulently
obtained ID when he was arrested for his plot todetonate a bomb under a tower in Dallas, Texas
in 2009.4 In 2011, Khalid Ali-M Aldawsari, who had
already collected 42 liters of chemicals and wasnearly operational in his plot to detonate WMDs
across the country and raise his own al-Qaeda terror
cells, wrote that obtaining fake IDs were the next
“important steps” in his plot.5 The 2012 Burgas bus
bombers used counterfeit Michigan driver’s licenses
made in a Hezbollah factory for at least five years
while renting cars and hotels in Bulgaria to prepare
for their attack.6 The 2013 Boston Marathon bomb
ring leader, Tamerlan Tsarnaev, amalgamated along reading list of ID counterfeiting guides before
his attack, including “Secrets Of A Back Alley ID
Man: Fake Id Construction Techniques Of The
Underground” and “How to Make Driver’s Licenses
and Other ID on Your Home Computer”. 7

Islamic State:
Today’s terror threat has somewhat shifted toward
Islamic State, or ISIS, which has orchestrated
bombings and violent attacks all over the worldin just the few short years it has been active. Their
successful attacks in Europe that claimed hundredsof lives have not satisfied their desire to attack the

1. Clay, Nolan, and Robby Trammell. “McVeigh Made Fake ID to Rent Truck, FBI Agents Told.” NewsOK.com. N.p., 23 June 1996.
2. “Al-Qaeda Manual Part 5.” Defense.gov. U.S. Department of Defense, 29 June 2005. Web. 24 Dec. 2015.
3.“The 9/11 Commission Report: Final Report of the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks upon the United States, at 384 (2004)
4.“Jordanian Immigrant Charged in Terror Plot MediaNews.” Monterey County Herald, 27 Sept. 2009.

Fake IDs and National Security

Keeping IDentities Safe

U.S. and “raise black flag over White House”. Afterattacking Texas in 2015, the terror group specificallypointed to California, Virginia, Maryland, Illinois, andMichigan as next targets.8 Omar Mateen, the terrorist
responsible for the mass murder of 49 nightclub
goers in Orlando in 2016, pledged his allegiance to
ISIS shortly before his attack.9
Following in al-Qaeda’s footsteps, ISIS created a
guidebook advising operatives to obtain fake IDs
in order to avoid detection. Sometime in 2015,
Islamic State released, “How to Survive in the West”,
a “mujahadid guide” that teaches recruits how tosneak into countries, hide, build bombs, plan attacks,
maximize civilian casualties, and escape to IslamicState in Syria or Iraq afterwards. Key to doing so, thebook teaches, is obtaining fake IDs.
Its first chapter, “Hiding the Extremist Identity”,
includes directions for the terrorist to change“everything about you” to make it “extremely diﬃcult
for intelligence agencies to know who you reallyare”. To do so, it says to “find people who can fakeID cards” in the “dark underworld”. It also advises
undercover operatives to rent cars and “install bombsin them” and detonate those bombs near “those whoare harming the Muslims”.10
The 2015 Paris and 2016 Brussels attackers thatmurdered over 160 people followed the ISIS guidance
exactly. Salah Abdeslam, the logistics chief for theParis attacks, provided himself and others involved
with fake Belgium ID cards as he transported themthrough checkpoints across countries, including
the plot’s bomb-maker and architect. The ensuinginvestigation found those fake IDs sourced froma “factory” based in Belgium. The Belgium IDs
were used to rent houses, cross borders, and wiremoney under false identities to evade detection byauthorities. The Brussels metro station bomber also
had an ID from the same factory, his in the name of afamous soccer player. When Belgian police raided the“factory”, they found computers, scanners, printers,
heat presses, and over 1,300 unfinished documents.
The investigations into the attacks are still ongoingas others involved may still be at large. It remains
uncertain how many undercover ISIS terrorists may
have escaped using those high-quality fake IDs.11“Changing your identity is important because you
will come across diﬀerent people in this struggle;
you want to hide your true identity from people
who don’t know you so no-one in your Secret Agentlife can ever describe you accurately if they evergot caught. Identity change is so important thateverything about you – your: (Alias name, Physicallook, Voice, Meeting places, and even phone
number.) Are diﬀerent to your real ones.
This makes it extremely diﬃcult for intelligenceagencies to know who you really are if you always
take security precautions before every meeting.
If you can find people who can fake ID cards, thatwould be even better (and this may be possible
if you can have contact with people in the dark
underworld)... Rent cars under fake identity papers
and install bombs in them and set oﬀ the car bombs
near Synagogues, near governmental or police
buildings, near gas pipelines or near those who areharming the Muslims.”

5. Smith: Terror Plot Is Failure of Immigration System.” Congressman Lamar Smith. N.p., 24 Feb. 2011.
6. Kelley, Michael B. “Bulgaria Releases A Second Fake Driver’s License They Say Came From The Suicide Bomber.” Business Insider. Business Insider, Inc, 16 Aug. 2012.
7.“Tamerlan Tsarnaev’s Amazon Wish List.” Salon.com. Web. 24 Dec. 2015
8. Curl, Joseph. “ISIS Announces 6-Month Terror Campaign, NAMES 5 Targets — CA, VA, MD, IL, MI.” Washington Times. The Washington Times, n.d.
9.“Islamic State Claims Responsibility for Orlando Nightclub Shooting.” Thomson Reuters, 12 June 2016.
10.“How to Survive in the West: A Mujahid Guide.” (n.d.): 10. Investigative Project. Web. <http://www. investigativeproject.org/documents/misc/863.pdf>. Featured on page 9.
11. Wyke, Tom.“Belgian Police Issue Photos of Two New Paris Attack Suspects Who Both Used Fake ID Cards .” Mail Online. Associated Newspapers, 04 Dec. 2015.

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The Truck Attack Threat:
ISIS has written that, “vehicles are like knives, as they
are extremely easy to acquire. But unlike knives,
which if found in one’s possession can be a cause forsuspicion, vehicles arouse absolutely no doubts.”12
Avoiding that suspicion is doubly eﬀective whena terrorist can use a fake ID. The 2016 Berlin truck
attacker used 14 diﬀerent identities in Germany alone
to escape an extensive criminal record before hekilled twelve holiday market shoppers.13
In the aforementioned 2015 ISIS manual, “Howto Survive in the West,” terrorists are told to rentvehicles with “fake identity papers.” According to
ISIS, the bigger the vehicle, the better. In an issue of
its propaganda magazine, Rumiyah, ISIS instructs
that, “smaller vehicles lack the weight and wheel
span required for crushing many victims” and that
operatives should stick to larger cars and trucks.14
That’s why Mohamed Lahouaiej-Bouhlel walked
into a rental company in France and said, “I want thebiggest, most powerful vehicle you have.” He walked
out with the keys to a 20-ton refrigerator truck which
he plowed through a national celebration in Nice in2016 killing 84.15
The terrorists responsible for the 2017 Barcelona
attack, in which a rented van barreled down a main
avenue, slaughtering over a dozen people, also
followed this advice perfectly. The van used in theattack was rented using a stolen ID card. Further, thecredit card used to rent that vehicle was also used
to rent two other vans destined for other attacks.
Spanish authorities say the perpetrator was partof a twelve person plot that had collected 120 gas
canisters they planned to use in vehicular attacks.16
The people responsible for this attack followed the
ISIS manual step by step.
The Barcelona, Berlin, and Nice attacks were justthree of the five European mass murder terrorist
attacks using heavy vehicles in a single year, joining
attacks in Stockholm and London. This deadly
trend taking shape may show that sophisticatedterror attacks, the kind that involve skilled airplanepilots, miniaturized explosives, Middle East training
camps, and/or complex funding networks, may
be less prevalent in the future. Such plots involve
extensive coordination with many steps, each stepwith its own chance of failure, exposure, or law
enforcement interdiction. Recent attacks prove thattoday’s terrorists may not need to rely on any of that

Keeping IDentities Safe

complex planning. To commit mass murder, all aterrorist needs is the keys to a vehicle.
The tragic October 2017 terrorist attack in New York
City in which Sayfullo Saipov rented a truck andplowed it through pedestrians in Manhattan shouldhave come as no surprise. The United States remains
the number one target for ISIS and Islamic extremists
and these groups have been threatening New York
City for years. Just months before, ISIS released a
44-minute propaganda video beckoning terrorists
to attack New York and Washington, D.C. withvehicles and knives17. After the 2015 Paris massacre,
ISIS released a video of suicide bombers juxtaposedin city scenes of Times Square and Herald Square in
New York.18 And this organization has been warningof a major European style truck attack for years,
publishing op eds, speaking at conferences, andmaking presentations for law enforcement agencies
across the globe.
The Oklahoma City truck bombing might be eveneasier today. McVeigh wouldn’t need to hand makea fake ID when one can be ordered from dozens
of diﬀerent websites and delivered to a doorstep
in days. A terrorist can pick any picture he or shechooses along with any name and address (probably
one matching a fraudulent credit card) and receivea high quality counterfeit ID ready to go. Next, thatfake ID can be used to rent not only large vehicles,
like vans, but actual box trucks. Right now, a known
terrorist can walk into a truck rental store anywherein the country and easily rent this destructive
weapon for as long as he or she needs. If they are ona watchlist or are trying to avoid one, the terrorist can
simply show that fake ID. If the Barcelona terrorist
driver wanted to perpetrate the same attack throughTimes Square but was on a terrorist watch list, he
could simply order an ID online, show it at the closest
truck rental company, and walk out with the keys toanything from a cargo van to a 26-foot behemothwith a 7,400 pound capacity. In fact, the Barcelona
terrorist could use the same stolen ID that he showedin Spain to get his van because most truck rental
companies even accept foreign driver’s licenses.
It’s a dangerous to assume that the person at the
cash register is familiar enough with the over 100
diﬀerent formats of U.S. driver’s licenses to determine
authenticity before providing a heavy vehicle, but
it’s simply impossible to rely on that person toauthenticate foreign licenses as well.

12. “Sweden Truck Attack Follows String of Similar Vehicle Assaults.” Fox News, FOX News Network, 7 Apr. 2017.
13. Berlin Truck Killer Amri ‘Had 14 Identities’ in Germany. BBC, 5 Jan. 2017.
14. Lockett, Jon. Outrage as Guides Teaching Lone-Wolf Terrorists How to Use Vehicles to ‘Crush Victims’ Are STILL Online. The Sun, 24 Mar. 2017.
15. Shammas, John. “Nice Terrorist Told Hire Company ‘I Want Biggest Most Powerful Truck You Have’.” Mirror, Mirror.co.uk, 17 July 2016.
16. Barcelona Attack: Spain Terror Cell Had 120 Gas Canisters. BBC News, 20 Aug. 2017.
17. Silverstein, Jason. ISIS Appears to Threaten Attack on Washington in New Propaganda Video. New York Daily News, 16 Nov. 2015.
18. Dupuy, Beatrice. “Terrorists Have Threatened to Attack New York since 9/11.” Newsweek, 1 Nov. 2017.

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Keeping IDentities Safe7

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Keeping IDentities Safe

IDViking

How Fake IDs are Bought
In the past, fake IDs were of extremely low quality, made in small batches
in dorm rooms or Kinko’s copy shops and sold on college campuses andstreet corners. IDChief changed all of that.
IDChief:

IDGod:

Operating in China, far out of reach from U.S.
law enforcement jurisdictions and under a very
forgiving legal system, IDChief set a new model forhigh quality fake IDs produced in mass quantities.
It operated a website, displaying all of its prices
and 22 diﬀerent state ID options publicly. It had
Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube pages pushingout its products. It had “customer service reps” oncollege campuses furthering that outreach. Online
ordering was made incredibly easy and eﬃcient ascustomers only needed the internet and an address
to place an order. They would fill in any biographic
information they chose, attach a picture, wire money,
and within two weeks, the customer had a fake ID
at his or her doorstep, hidden inside a package ofcheap trinkets or toys to evade customs detection.
The prices ranged from $75 to $150 dollars,
including a duplicate. They were even cheaper if
the customer was a “middle-man”, ordering in bulk
and distributing to others. Perhaps most alarmingly,
IDChief counterfeits were of higher quality thanmany ID checkers across the country had ever seen,containing near-perfect emulations of security
features and had the ability to provide corresponding
information if scanned. This gave IDChief a meteoric
rise and by 2012, according to one law enforcement
source, its products made up 75% of fake IDs in
California.

Most notably is IDgod, a China-based document
mill that likely has some of the same operators from
IDChief. Its model, its pricing, its images, and someof its products are almost exact copies. IDChief
specialized in the Pennsylvania license, which IDGod
also oﬀers, but IDGod’s most popular product is a
Connecticut counterfeit with a near-prefect copyof the Charter Oak watermark. These Connecticut
counterfeits became so popular that Giant grocery
stores in Maryland stopped accepting any IDs from
Connecticut.

That year also became its final year. IDChief’s sudden
rise garnered so much media attention that Capitol
Hill took notice. In August 2012, four U.S. Senators
sent a letter to the Chinese ambassador citing thewebsite as a threat to our national security anddemanded it be shut down. Days later, it was nolonger operating. But the absence of IDChief andthe market it created left a huge vacuum for fake ID
vendors. Dozens of new sellers have since taken its
place over the last few years, many also operating in
China.

New-IDs
New-IDs claims to have been in operation since 2007.
Its website, email servers, and production are all
hosted “oﬀshore,” and “away from the jurisdictionof our Law Enforcement agencies here in the US.” Itoﬀers 21 diﬀerent state IDs at prices ranging from $125
for one ID and $90 per ID for bulk orders. It also oﬀers
Social Security cards. The New-IDs operators also sellmaterial supply to other counterfeiters under the
separate business name, New-holos.

FakeYourDrank
Fakeyourdrank is the second highest reviewed
vendor on FakeIDVendors.com. It oﬀers documentsfrom 12 diﬀerent U.S. states, each starting at $80
with discounts for bulk orders and occasional sales
and promotional prices. Processing, production,and shipping typically takes two to three weeks.
Among the products FakeYourDrank oﬀers is the
Washington Enhanced Driver’s License (EDL). A
genuine EDL is a license that is issued under higher
identity authentication standards and contains
advanced physical security features from the standard
Washington driver’s license. EDLs denote both identity
and citizenship and can be used as identification topass land borders.

Keeping IDentities Safe

Fake IDs and National Security

IDViking oﬀers 25 diﬀerent driver’s licenses and ID
cards from U.S. states and Canadian provinces and iscurrently the highest rated vendor on fakeidvendors.
com. The IDs are reportedly received by customers
in 12 to 14 days. Its Ohio licenses are one of the mostwell-reviewed counterfeits on forums. It also oﬀers
dozens of student IDs for $30.

TedDanzig:
In 2016, we reported on a terrifying murder plot
against NYPD oﬃcers by a disturbed New York City
teenager, Ranbir Shergill. 18 years old at the time,
Shergill began carrying out meticulously planned
steps towards his ultimate goal, a rampage ofcarnage through New York City streets that summer.
First on his list was getting a fake ID. Shergill ordereda fake ID online using the darknet, a level of theinternet that lets users operate anonymously and iscommonly used for the sale and trade of illicit goods
or services due to its untraceable nature. Using a .torbrowser, which connects the users to the darknet
by scrambling their ip addresses, Shergill was able
to find a high-quality fake ID vendor who sold anddelivered him a counterfeit Ohio driver’s license.
Shergill paid in bitcoins, a form of anonymous anduntraceable electronic currency.
For Shergill’s next step, he traveled to Ohio andpurchased a handgun using that Ohio fake ID. He
traveled back to New York with a Glock 17 in tow,
the weapon he planned to use to murder the police
oﬃcers. A note on his phone read, “Do it during asnow storm… go from Dunkin Donuts on van wyck
after shooting and killing officers they will be wearing
coats. And one will be male other female. Then try to killother NYPD officers.”19
Fortunately, Shergill was reported and arrested
before he could carry out his plot. Authorities foundseven magazines, 118 rounds of ammunition, and
the Glock pistol at his house before he could use it.
Shergill almost certainly got the ID he purchased
a gun with from TedDanzig, the darknet’s oldest
and most successful fake ID vendor. TedDanzig
only makes Ohio IDs, only operates on the darknet
through a site only accessible through a .tor browser,
only accepts bitcoins for payment, and charges thesame amount that Shergill paid for his ID. Whensomeone on a Reddit forum where TedDanzig isactive linked the article and wrote, “Ted, is that you?”
TedDanzig responded, “The price + OH + tor use does
imply he bought from us. I almost don’t want to checkmy order history.”

Shergill was caught but TedDanzig has sold thousandsof other high quality Ohio IDs across the worldand has since upgraded to an even higher quality
Michigan ID, of which he’s also sold thousands.
TedDanzig’s fake ID sales could have continued
indefinitely. He was even about to roll out a new Utah
fake ID that was even more undetectable than his
Michigan. That ID could have been used by customers
like Shergill throughout the world, in cities big andsmall, to buy guns, rent trucks, or board airplanes.
However, last month, TedDanzig was finally taken
down as a result of dilligent law enforcement oﬃcers
and one of the world’s biggest and most dangerous
document mill operators is now in custody. The
TedDanzig site is still up, but we somehow suspect it’s
no longer being operated by Mark A. Simon.

Reddit:Over the last four years, a simple Google searchof “buy fake ID” would yield three top results
consistently: IDgod, a site on Reddit, and a Business
Insider article about buying fake IDs. Two of those
dropped after the Reddit site was shut down
earlier this year. We’ve already covered the first
result, IDGod. The second, Reddit, is an immensely
popular anonymous online forum that allows users
to ask and answer questions, post links, and share
information about pretty much any topic under thesun. These range from fan-fiction writing circles, toneighborhood message boards, and sometimes toillicit activities: like drug trade, illegal pornography,
hate speech, and forgery. The latter applies to thefake ID subreddit, which is a narrowed in community
under the Reddit umbrella that specifically focuseson the counterfeit ID market. That brings us to thethird result, the Business Insider article from 2014,“Reddit And Instagram Have A Thriving Marketplace
For Fake IDs.” The writer provides context, scale, andscreenshots of the vast and growing fake ID subreddit
community.
Operating openly on the clearnet, that subreddit
community was more than just a simple marketplace
for buying and selling fake IDs. It was a complex andregulated forum involving not only the customers
and vendors, but middlemen, expert ID checkers,
anonymous law enforcement oﬃcers, TSA oﬃcers,
hotel clerks, rental car company employees, andsometimes extremely nefarious actors, all monitored
by a crew of highly involved “moderators” who could
delete, move, or discredit posts.
The subreddit forum has also hosted “ask meanything” threads, including one from a bouncer

19. Eustachewich, Lia. Teen Allegedly Bought Gun with Fake ID, Threatened to Murder Cops. New York Post, 9 June 2016.

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Fake IDs and National Security

at one of the “toughest” bars in the country andone from someone claiming to be a Transportation
Security Oﬃcer at an airport. The moderators of
the subreddit also constantly updated the “verified
vendor list,” or VVL. The VVL may have been themost popular and useful item to anyone landingon the Fake ID page from Google. Highlighted at
the top of the forum and again on the sidebar, theVVL provided an extensive list of fake ID vendors,
including which states they oﬀer and whichdocuments they specialize in. These lists were guided
by user input and extensive customer reviews. The
VVL also identified “scammers,” letting potential
customers know which vendors would take their
payment and never produce a document.
It doesn’t take a wild imagination to see how
criminals, thieves, and terrorists could exploit all
the information available on this forum to purchaseand use fake IDs in order to evade law enforcement
detection. And this ecosystem operated for at least
seven years.
Finally, in February of this year, the subreddit
was shutdown for “violating the Reddit rules,”which includes posting content that, “is illegal, is

Keeping IDentities Safe

involuntary pornography, is sexual or suggestive
content involving minors, encourages or incites
violence, threatens, harasses, or bullies or encourages
others to do so, is personal and confidential
information, impersonates someone in a misleadingor deceptive manner, or is spam.” Assuming thissubreddit falls under the “illegal” category in Reddit’sclassification, selling counterfeit documents was justas illegal when the subreddit started six years ago as
it is today. One has to wonder why it took so long perhaps it was related to the takedown of the largest
domestic counterfeit ID vendor earlier this month,
TedDanzig, who operated, marketed, and soldextensively through the website.
Since the shutdown, a number of other fake ID
forums have already popped up across the web.
The VVL has been re-published in diﬀerent forms
on multiple other sites. Notably, FakeIDvendors.com
has almost entirely copied the former subreddit’s
format and interface. It’s really only a matter of time
before any of these sites becomes just as popular as
the former fake ID subreddit - perhaps with added
improvements - just as the fall of IDChief led to
IDGod.

Keeping IDentities Safe

Fake IDs and National Security

11

The Most Counterfeited States of Major Vendors
CO S T O F A H I G H
Q UA L I T Y CO U N T ER F EI T
P EN N S Y LVA N I A I D O V ER T H E
I N T ER N E T$60
N U M B ER O F
D I F F ER EN T S TAT EI D S O F F ER ED BY
IDGOD

22

N U M B ER O F
L ARGE SC ALE
FA K E I D V EN D O R S
O P ER AT I N G O V ER
T H E I N T ER N E T

2012 E S T I M AT E
O F FA K E I D S I N
C ALIFORNIA MADE
BY I D C H IEF

75%

39

DAY S I T C A N TA K E
F O R A FA K E I D TO
GO FROM CHINATO A
C U S TO M ER ’ S
D O O R S T EP

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Who are the Customers?
The vast majority of the fake ID market is made up of underage kids trying tobuy alcohol until they turn 21. However, my research has shown many othercustomers are seeking IDs for more nefarious purposes. Below are just a few
select excerpts of anonymous internet testimonials on fake ID use:
To Purchase Marijuana
Underage kids regularly post about buying drugs
from marijuana dispensaries using their fake IDs.

“Idgods Mississippi worked at all 7 weed
dispensaries in Colorado! The age to buy
recreational marijuana in Colorado is 21. Idgods
Mississippi worked flawlessly at every dispensary
we visited, even passed 3 diﬀerent scanners thatthey used. Props to idgod!”“i have the worst arkansas fake ever and it worked
fine. but some dispensaries are very strict so justbe careful”“I have used my Delaware in a Washington
dispensary and went to one of the atms they justcame out with and no problems at all”
“Just bought around $100 of goods from a
Washington state dispensary with a Barfun New
MO.”“I drove through CO last week and used my fake at
a dispensary. “

To Rent Guns
This is a particularly alarming use of a fake ID, as it
could allow for convicted felons and others barredfrom purchasing firearms a way to escape theprohibition. Last year, a teenager in New York useda counterfeit Ohio license to purchase a gun heplanned to use to murder NYPD oﬃcers.

“I live in Ohio, which doesn’t require backgroundchecks when buying from a private seller. There’s
a gun show coming to my city next weekend.
Will I be able to purchase an AK47 with my fake?
On a separate note, how rigorous is Walmart on
ammunition? Would I be able to get through with
an idgod ct? I’m buying 5.56”“Using a fake at a shooting range?...you have to12Fake IDs and National Security

be at least 21 to rent a gun and since I don’t haveone, I’d have to rent. Does anyone know anything
about how strict these places are or have any
recommendations?

To Ride Amtrak
Trains, both here in the U.S. and abroad, continue
to be a top target for terrorists. The 2015 Thalys
train shooting by an Islamist terrorist proved that.
Terrorists also often travel by train. ID checks at
Amtrak are too sporadic and ineﬀective to mitigate
the risk of terrorist travel and the threat to a train
itself.

“Hypothetically, if I want to go on an anonymous
train ride could I use a fake, or do they use box
scanners?... I’m not a terrorist, I just need to go
somewhere without anyone knowing…Let’s justsay I want to disappear for a while. I’m not trying
to hide it from the authorities but from family. I’mleaving my phone at home...”Keeping IDentities Safe

“I’ve realized how good [fake IDs] can be for otherpurposes. Just this weekend alone, I’ve used my[expletive] ID for 3 non-drinking purposes.” Thepost goes on to list using a credit card, buying
fireworks, and renting a hotel.
“Could a fake ID be used for hotels or rental cars?”“when exiting the airport, just find the mostforeign person, and be a genuine funny person.”

To Rent Cars
Terrorists commonly rent cars with fake IDs, as the
Burgas Bus Bombers did. This helps them travel
across borders (states in the U.S. and countries in
Europe) without being detected or tracked by law
enforcement agencies.

“Rented a car with a fake ID, drove it like 1000
miles, dumped it in a parking lot.”

To Book Hotels and Rent Houses
Almost every major terrorist attack has incorporated
a safe house for logistics planning, coordination,
meetings, weapons exchange, training, briefing,bomb-making, and/or escape. Too few booking
representatives are trained in fraudulent document
recognition or know how important accurate ID
verification and authentication can be to our national
security.

“I’m in my 30s and need an ID with a nameother than my own to be used in virtually any
circumstance. I would use it for hotels, clubs,
casinos, shows, when using a credit card, etc.
Would be nice to use for rental car too”

“Going to attempt to rent a house in WI in a couple
months and was wondering if anybody has had
any luck with renting anything, houses, cabins,
hotels, etc… I am going to be using a Mr. Rep IL
btw.”

At Airports

Many counterfeit vendors report receiving orders
from other countries, from people far over the age of21, and for multiple identities. The largest vendors,such as IDGod, claim that they never fill such orders,but others will gladly take the cash and makewhatever ID a customer wants.

Given the lessons learned after 9/11, where 18
terrorists used over 30 diﬀerent driver’s licenses
as“weapons”, this is a vulnerability we should haveclosed 15 years ago. Below are examples of seemingly
harmless kids using fake IDs to board aircraft but
demonstrates how easily and often it is done.

“Unfamiliar with USA drivers licenses and havesome questions… I was looking at a Connecticut
ID. Thanks and sorry for my extreme lack ofknowledge, I know nothing about real US IDs”

“I’m flying home from school after finals, and my
genius self forgets both my real ID as well as mypassport in my room...However, I still have my God
CT... Weighing my options of missing my flight or
possible prison time/felony record, I wisely chosethe latter. Turns out, it worked, and I am currently
standing on the other side of airport security.”“Hello Friends..! I need USA National ID card or
Lisence card or Utility bill for the verification of myaccount. Anyone help me..”“Atlantis Fakes: How much are you oﬀering?”
Idgod: “have been getting some orders from Iraq
and Kuwait we will NOT ship there your order
will be deleted and money if paid with bitcoins
refunded if paid with western union untouched!”

The use of fake IDs to rent trucks is particularly
troubling, given the rise of trucks as a predominantterrorist weapon. 2010 al-Qaeda guidance advised
operatives to use a “truck as a mowing machine, notto mow grass but mow down the enemies of Allah”.20
ISIS guidance followed up, noting that ‘Vehicles arelike knives, as they are extremely easy to acquire. But
unlike knives, which if found in one’s possession canbe a cause for suspicion, vehicles arouse absolutely no
doubts.“21 The 2016 Nice, France attack involved aterrorist plowing a rented truck through a Bastille Day
celebration, taking 86 lives. There was another truck
attack in Berlin later that year and one in Stockholm
already in 2017, as well as an SUV attack in London.
Here in the U.S., we face an extreme vulnerability
to truck attacks, as anyone can rent a 26 foot truck
with a 7,500 pound capacity using a fake ID. Truckrental stores have no identity verification proceduresin place and some even accept unfamiliar foreign
driver’s licenses.

“For reasons I’d rather not get into, i’ve used one
for an Amtrak train trip for both ways. The tellers
seem to just glance it over to confirm names.”“I work for a hotel and can confidently say as longas the name on the id matches the name on thecredit card - you’re in.”For Other Unknown Purposes

To Rent Trucks“The two times I went (on Amtrak) with a fake, they
just glanced it over to confirm info. You should befine as long as it didn’t look obviously fake.”

Low quality counterfeit Michigan IDs produced by
Hezbollah and used by the Burgas Bus Bombers in their
attack that killed 6. Note that the bottom Michigan ID lists
an address in Louisiana, but was still eﬀectively used in theplot to rent cars and safe-houses and to travel undetected
over five years. Much higher quality documents are
currently available and in circulation.

Keeping IDentities Safe

Fake IDs and National Security“i work at Uhaul in Georgia, when someone handsme the ID , all we do is put in the license number,make sure its not expired.”“So, I’m on the no fly list because I got into anargument with a TSA agent a few years ago (also
got arrested and charged with assault, eventually
got the charges dropped on that), so I obviously
need to use a fake name to fly. So I’m justwondering what do they look at with that black
light and how to tell if my ID will pass inspection ornot.”“So my dumb$%#^ friend has a death wish andwere flying back home for the holidays fromcollege. And he knowingly gave his [fake Colorado
ID] to the TSA agent checking boarding passes
before going through security. I mean it had hisreal name and everything but what the $%#^.
Anyways he hands it to the agent who checks thename, throws it under the blacklight for maybe .5
seconds and then hands it back.”“LOL @ TSA: Just saw the worst IL i’ve ever seenpass at the checkpoint. Didn’t even scan or UV mydrivers license. God bless America.”“There’s a story on here once every couple months
that someone [used a fake ID at TSA] and it worked
fine. As long as you have UV.”
“Captain Krunk ID Review: My Colorado [fake] id
got me thru Colorado Springs TSA airport security,and I don’t mean in my wallet, as my main form ofid.”“I accidentally gave TSA my fake WA instead of myreal one.... It was ok”

20. Levin, Alan, Chris Strohm, and Andrea Rothman. “Terror Truck to ‘Mow Down’ Enemies Seen in Al-Qaeda Guide.” Bloomberg.com. 15 July 2016
21.“Sweden Truck Attack Follows String of Similar Vehicle Assaults.” FOX News Network. 7 Apr. 2017.

13

14

Fake IDs and National Security

Keeping IDentities Safe

Fake IDs and National Security

Attacking the Demand:

Conclusion
It’s been over 15 years since 9/11 and we still have not implemented the
9/11 Commission’s key recommendation to secure our driver’s licenses
from terrorists. It’s time for a national strategy that involves:
Creating a Better System:
It’s not exactly the TSA agent’s fault when a fake ID
passes through - their jobs are nearly impossible. Everyday, they are presented with thousands of individual
driver’s licenses and ID cards from 56 diﬀerent
jurisdictions across the country, each with up to six
diﬀerent formats. The agent is charged with making
determinations on the veracity of those documents
in seconds. Add to that a long list of other documentsthat TSA accepts, such as military IDs, tribal IDs, Trusted
Traveller cards, Canadian driver’s licenses, transportation
worker IDs, and foreign passports. Furthermore, mostdocument checkers at airports are under-trained infraudulent document recognition techniques and areoften equipped with nothing but a UV light. As thispaper has noted, relying on a UV feature to determine
who can board an aircraft is highly inadvisable, as UVfeatures are among the most commonly counterfeited.
Relying on documents alone for proof of identity toboard aircraft is too flawed.

Deploying Document Readers:Document readers must also be deployed at sensitive
areas, such as airports. These can allow for rapid andaccurate authentication of identity documents. This
would enable TSA agents to verify documentation ofpassengers more eﬀectively, simultaneously providing
more convenience to passengers. TSA has signed acontract with a document scanning company and its
scanners should be deployed without delay.

Enforcing the REAL ID Act:The Department of Homeland Security should enforce
the REAL ID Act on its current schedule and not delay.
The set of common sense security standards developedby the states and the motor vehicle community has
brought significant increases in the driver’s licenses
issuance processes and counterfeit resistant features ofmost states’ documents - but not all.

There are still a number of laggard states that
believe DHS will delay enforcement. Those states
have had since 2008 to adapt best practices but
have made little progress. Laggard states should nothave their identity documents be looked upon withequal trust as proof of identity as those that haveachieved compliance with the Act. Enforcement of
the Act would mean that the laggard states’ identity
documents would not be able to be used to board
airplanes. This enforcement will boost security either
by prompting the laggard states into upgradesor, failing that, requiring their residents to obtain
passports, a more secure document. Total compliancewith the REAL ID Act is essential to prevent terrorists
from using fake IDs and to better protect Americans
from identity related crimes and impostors.

Keeping Up with the Counterfeiters:
States should upgrade the security features of their
documents beyond the REAL ID standards. Adding
existing, cost-eﬀective security technology todriver’s licenses and ID cards will make recognizing
counterfeits easier for law enforcement, gatekeepers,
and security personnel and make them to expensive
for counterfeiters to produce. States can achieve thisby switching to polycarbonate cards, a substance
far more diﬃcult to replicate. States can implement
newer overt, covert, and forensic features unique tothe state of issuance, such as microtext and opticallyvariable devices. States can use laser perforation,
which is often poorly emulated by counterfeiters andimmediately detectable.
However, no matter how cutting edge security
features employed on an ID are, it is always a matterof time until the criminals catch up. It is imperativethat states continue to upgrade their features asnecessary.

Being caught using or possessing a counterfeit ID
can lead to jail time, serious fines, suspension fromschool, loss of license, and may result in a permanentcriminal record. In some states, it constitutes afelony. Even if a fake ID user isn’t caught, his or her
identity may have been stolen or sold by the groupthat manufactured the counterfeit document. Most
college kids, who make up the majority of the market,
don’t know of these consequences and penalties.
They also don’t know the links between terrorism
and fake IDs. By providing more education on therisks of buying and using fake IDs to college-aged
youth, we can impact the largest segment of fake ID
customers, thereby decreasing the demand, and let
the economics work.

Enforcing Fake ID Penalties:
In some states, counterfeit ID users are simply denied
entry, not questioned or detained, and too often
IDs aren’t even confiscated. In other states, such as
New York, penalties for counterfeit IDs range fromfelonies to traﬃc law infractions. States with weak or
little enforcement should pass laws increasing thepenalties on oﬀenders. Many states are attempting
to do so, such as Wisconsin, which passed a law thatallows retailers to file claims against counterfeit
ID users for up to $1,000. Some states can revoke
licenses for a year for possession of a fake ID, with nooption for getting a conditional license. These statelaws should be enforced.
If law enforcement agencies have insuﬃcient statelaws for prosecution, they should use existingfederal laws pertaining to counterfeit IDs and driver’s
licenses, such as:
1. 18 U.S.C. Section 1028(a)(5) B Possession ofDocument-Making Implements;
2. 18 U.S.C. Section 1028(a)(8) B Traﬃcking in False
Authentication Features;
3. 18 U.S.C. Section 1342 B Using a Fictitious Nameor Address; and4. 18 U.S.C. Section 1546 B Fraud & Misuse of Visas,
Permits, & Other Documents.

Engaging Congress:
IDChief was shut down in 2012 following a strategic
public aﬀairs campaign led by a coalition oforganizations that ultimately influenced Congress.
After generating stories in the press across the

Keeping IDentities Safe

country, the coalition brought the Chinese
document mill to the attention of four
United States Senators who addressed aletter to the Chinese Ambassador requestingthat the website be shut down due tonational security concerns. The bipartisan
eﬀort included Senators Durbin, Kirk,
Grassley, and Harkin, and prompted the
shutdown of the website just days after. This
marked a victory in the battle against fakeIDs, as IDChief was the largest and mostpopular distributor. It also demonstrated
that there is recourse to the problem ofoverseas counterfeiters operating beyond
U.S. law enforcement jurisdiction. However,
IDChief’s shutdown created a vacuum andother China-based counterfeiters of U.S.
driver’s licenses have taken its place. Anotheraction from Capitol Hill could have a similareﬀect in applying diplomatic pressure on
China to address this national security andpublic safety threat.

Better International Cooperation:
U.S. law enforcement agencies needbetter cooperation from its international
partners. Overseas document mills too
often hide behind protections of foreignlaws and diplomatic barriers. By forging
better international cooperation, global
partners against crime and terrorism canhalt international counterfeiters fromoperating with impunity, as happened
when U.S. Senators worked with the
Chinese ambassador to shutdown IDChief.
Congress should look at ways in which law
enforcement agencies can engage in treaties
to facilitate prosecution of transnational
criminal enterprises, like document mills.

Better Training of Document Checkers
and Gatekeepers:
Front-line personnel in airports, vulnerable
areas of commerce, federal building
security personnel, and local police should
become trained in basic methods ofidentity document authentication and havetools available to assist in distinguishingcounterfeit IDs from valid IDs. This should
include ID verification tools, such as
magnifying glasses or reference guides to allstates at the very least, as counterfeit driver’s
licenses are rarely used “in-state”.

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