6 Fun Facts About Fake IDs

In 2009 a research study found that about 13% of pre-college students and 32% of fourth-semester college sophomores have fake IDs. In both age groups having a fake ID not only predicted increasingly heavy drinking every following semester of college, but also is highly correlated to alcoholism after graduation. While we know most college-aged kids are going through one kind of identity crisis…this is another epidemic altogether.

For those that are underage and manage to get alcohol, fake IDs are used only about 25% of the time. The other 75% are through family members and friends. And while it’s technically legal for your parents to buy you a beer at the Mahogany Grill when they come to visit you for Parent’s Weekend, it’s a different story for your siblings (biological or Greek) who may have outgrown their fakes and passed them down to you. In some states, passing down your fake ID to friends or siblings can even constitute identity theft, resulting in up to a five year stay in jail.

What exactly are the consequences of having a fake? Not many people know what they’re in for when they sign their names on a fake order form… but just because all your friends are doing it, doesn’t make it “not a felony.” It turns out that possessing a fake ID is– legally– the same thing as criminally possessing something like counterfeit bills, counterfeit passports, or falsified business records. (Cue Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton in that second debate). In New York State, any of these possession offenses are considered a Class “A” misdemeanor punishable by as much as one year in jail. Manufacturing and distributing Fake IDs is also punishable by a fine of up to $200 and a three-month stay in jail. So next time, maybe think better of your bouncer for not turning you in if you have an obvious fake.

We’ve already made it clear that it’s *illegal* to have a fake ID, but that’s not the only con– you may be getting ripped off. A lot. Making fakes has become easier and easier ever since the development of replicable holograms and magnetic stripes that adorn each state’s licenses. These developments paired with improving technologies means that all you need to make a fake is paper, laminating sheets, spray glue, and a little experience with Photoshop. But if it’s that easy, why do you have to pay upwards of $100 for a fake? Fakes are a booming industry, bolstered by the high drinking age (21+ years) in the U.S. Certain U.S. vendors boast payoffs of about $1500 a week because of the high number of underage clients and the ease of mass-producing products.

Some of you have fake IDs made in China. One of the most famous Fake-ID businesses overseas exists in the marketplace outside of Renmin University in China, where the merchants rake in about 100,000 yuan (or $16,000) a year. Talk about outsourcing jobs overseas.

Developers in the U.K. have found invented a more efficient system that could end the fake ID business altogether.. They’ve replaced ID cards with biological proof of age… on your phone. A government plan called “Touch2ID” involves registering your thumbprint on your phone and scanning this virtual “sticker” in order to get admittance to drinking-age areas. Although this alternative is expensive, it may be the only real way the government may combat the identity crisis plaguing thirsty first-world youths.