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[anonymous]

Subject: I got your ID right here

Web Identity Crisis Looms 

                                          By SYLVIA PAGAN WESTPHAL,
                                          Special to The Times


                                               The purchase of fake IDs, long a
                                          problem on the streets, has invaded
                                          cyberspace to become the latest headache
                                          for state and federal authorities. 
                                               Now accessible through the click of a
                                          mouse, a number of Web sites offer
                                          replicas of some of the most coveted and
                                          sensitive personal documents: state
                                          identification cards, driver's licenses,
                                          birth certificates and Social Security
                                          cards, all guaranteed to look like their
                                          legitimate counterparts. 
                                               And boy, do they. 
                                               "The ones we've seen are better than
                                          what's [sold] on the street," said Marissa
                                          Hernandez, a section chief for the
                                          Immigration and Naturalization Service. 
                                               The cybertrend has put new
                                          enforcement strains on agencies such as
                                          the INS and the state Department of Motor
                                          Vehicles, already overwhelmed with the
                                          scope of more traditional counterfeiting
                                          operations. 
                                               Street sales of forged documents have
                                          reached ominous proportions in Southern
                                          California, authorities say. In the last two
                                          years alone, INS agents have seized
                                          nearly 3 million counterfeit documents
                                          from just one organized crime ring. The
                                          confiscated material, which included
                                          green cards, Social Security cards,
                                          driver's licenses and proof- of-insurance
                                          certificates, had a street value of more
                                          than $140 million. 
                                               The extent of Web-based sales is
                                          unknown, but authorities are well aware
                                          of the budding industry's potential. 
                                               And as is clear from their Web sites,
                                          some operations are not shy about
                                          flaunting their skills as counterfeiters. 
                                               Boasts one on the Web: "We continue
                                          to be a major headache to several DMV
                                          and law enforcement agencies around the
                                          world. We can provide you with all the
                                          illegal and fake photo IDs that you are not
                                          by U.S. law [allowed] to have." 
                                               Another Web site advertises: "We will
                                          provide you with . . . exact novelty
                                          replicas in every detail of the current
                                          [state] IDs. . . . We do whatever security
                                          measure that state has (i.e. UV,
                                          watermark, hologram, seal, reflective
                                          laminate coating)." 
                                               A scroll down the page reveals
                                          samples of very realistic documents
                                          costing from $40 for a Social Security
                                          card to about $85 for driver's licenses and
                                          birth certificates. 
                                               The site says it sells the documents
                                          with a tiny sticker that labels them as
                                          "novelty" identification. But after that
                                          disclaimer, the user is told that "if you
                                          choose to peel it off . . . that is entirely 
up
                                          to you and you assume all responsibility/
                                          liability after that point." 
                                               Compounding the enforcement
                                          problem, most of these operations are
                                          based outside the U.S., Hernandez said.
                                          Several being investigated by the agency
                                          are in Canada. 
                                               "We're looking at [Web-based
                                          operations] more and more, working with
                                          the FBI . . . and we're working a lot with
                                          the Royal Canadian Mounted Police," she
                                          said. 
                                               The DMV is equally aware of the
                                          trend, said Vito Scattaglia, commander of
                                          the agency's division of investigations. 
                                               "It's a big problem. We have a team of
                                          investigators, all they do is computer-type
                                          [analyses]," he said. 
                                               Documents sold over the Internet still
                                          represent a relatively minor element, said
                                          Hernandez. At least for now, access to
                                          them is somewhat limited. "People have
                                          to have a computer, they have to know
                                          their way around the Internet" to purchase
                                          the documents online, Hernandez said. 
                                               Although the future might produce a
                                          change, Web-advertised documents for
                                          now lag behind the broader threat of
                                          mass-produced documents sold on the
                                          streets. Most agencies are therefore
                                          directing the bulk of their resources to
                                          halting the production of less-elaborate
                                          forged documents, whose sales across the
                                          country constitute the lifeblood of a
                                          multimillion-dollar underground industry. 
                                               The hub of counterfeit operations is in
                                          Southern California, most likely because
                                          52% of the nation's 5.8 million illegal
                                          immigrants live in the area, INS officials
                                          said. According to INS Special Agent
                                          Louis Rodi, local counterfeiting rings
                                          produce enough documents to "provide
                                          one to just about every illegal immigrant
                                          in Los Angeles."