The State of California, which leads the nation in all types of financial fraud, is a bellwether predictor of illegal activities that will soon befall other states. Steve Torres, Manager of Investigations in the Los Angeles area for the Department of Motor Vehicles, has spent hundreds of hours researching illegally obtained driver's licenses. Mr. Torres believes the current policies of the Department of Vital Statistics facilitate the fraudulent driver's license trade by allowing virtually anyone to obtain a copy of a birth certificate. The Department of Vital Statistics is charged with providing a public service that, for the vast majority of the time, is used by law-abiding citizens for legitimate purposes. They do admit that there are some persons who have requested and received half a dozen different birth certificates at a time.
Fraudulent identification is a major problem for financial institutions.
A check forger, armed with a driver's license and social security number, will open accounts at several different banks. The sophisticated forger will often let these accounts season for 90 days to a year. By maintaining the account properly, he will lull the bank into thinking the account is okay. Then, he will deposit fraudulent checks through an ATM, and after waiting through the two-day hold period, will withdraw the funds. The forger is long gone from the scene of the crime when the deposited checks are returned unpaid to the bank, or when the company or persons that suffered the loss reconciles their account and discovers the loss.