Students’ fake ID’s stopped at U.S. customs

The music is blasting, you feel a bit tipsy and you're ready to have one of the best nights of your life, whether sitting in the back seat of a cab or taking that last shot of alcohol before leaving, you know tonight's going to be a good night with a small recently-bought piece of plastic resting in your pocket.

This is the situation many students under twenty-one have reported before attempting to walk through the doors to a club or bar and presenting their own false identification, only to have it stripped away and, in some situations, for the students to be taken in by local authorities.

On Feb. 12, Police reportedly seized more than 20 fake ID's at a nightclub called Third Edition near Georgetown University. This is not the only case. Situations such as these have been consistently recurring near St. Joseph's University, specifically in neighboring Manayunk where larger raids at Castle Roxx and other neighborhood bars have previously resulted in students' incarceration.

Other incidents such as those at the University of Oklahoma where one student manufacturing false identification for other students on campus, resulted in the seizure of his own computer by the U.S. Secret Service to trace many others involved in the crime.

Even as 2010 came to a close, police forces such as the Tempe Police Department of Arizona had seized nearly 2,100 different fake IDs from underage drinkers near labeled "party schools" such as Arizona State University.

According to the Director of Public Safety, John Henfey, "What has been happening recently on a national level is that U.S. Customs postal inspectors have intercepted shipments of large quantities of fraudulent driver's licenses that are being mailed to actual students at their university on campus residences. That is something [that] has been occurring recently on a national level as well as locally here."

"It's not just something that only happens in Pennsylvania," said Anthony Thompson, '14. "I think it's quite clear that being able to drink legally is something many college kids want across the U.S. and a fake ID is the next best thing."

Henfey described that, while the federal government was overseeing a wider investigation, they were also contacting local authorities, whom have contacted schools such as St. Joe's.

"These are local authorities, but all a part of a national overall U.S. Customs operation that is trickling down…to their own jurisdictions," Henfey stated. "Customs has recently realized that they have seen an increase in these documents coming from an outside country into the United States."

Many students are willing to go to great lengths to get any form of false identification.

"They're becoming more common on campus, I've seen a lot of people who can spend somewhere from 120 to 200 dollars to get a fake ID," stated Matthew Wylie, '14. "I think kids feel like there aren't as many parties around SJU and they just want to get alcohol quicker."

 "I have a fake ID," stated one business major who chose to remain anonymous. "Honestly, fake IDs are a huge commodity; there will always be a huge market for false identification. You can always catch one guy, but the market will always be there."

Websites such as buyfakeidonline.com, 21overnight.com, theidshop.com, idchief.com and many more offer forms of identificationandare being dubbed "novelty products" while others declare them to be illegal forms of false identification.

These websites have still not been shut down by any governments; however, there have been repeated reports of different forms of false identification being mailed from China to the United States and being stopped by U.S. Customs Agents.

"What it boils down to is that students are being provided a site to go to," said Henfey. "They place an order and receive a shipment of upwards of 100 or more drivers licenses for individuals that they coordinated with to get the fraudulent documents."

Yet, according to St. Joe's students, there are many ways to obtain false identification at a college campus without importing them from foreign countries.

 "I have a fake—many people do," stated an anonymous computer science major. "The demand is high at St. Joe's because we are in the city. Really, they can be made very easily; all it requires is a basic Photoshop knowledge and a good printer. With the Internet you can find all of these materials to make a fake ID anywhere, even on eBay. Any college kid could do it anywhere; every college campus has a couple of kids that do it, this college isn't an exception."

However, Henfey stated that there have been no reported incidents of fraudulent identification being manufactured on campus.

Some students reported learning how to manufacture false identification by using the Internet.

"The Internet has definitely made methods of obtaining a fake ID much easier," stated Thompson. "Anyone can find out where to buy one or how to make one now, all you need is a computer and access to the Internet."

"We haven't had the case come up where people are making their own fake ID's but I believe it is in the very high end of the sanction spectrum," Bill Bordak, assistant director of community standards stated. "If they are making these it would have a real high impact on our community and we would react strongly to it."

 "I think there's a lot of fake ID's on campus; I hear people talk about them, show them off and they know the people to go to in order to get them," said Joe Lacitignola, '14. "I think fake ID's are wrong and stupid; the cons of getting caught just outweigh the pros."

Getting caught with false identification is a misdemeanor offense in the United States; penalties vary from state to state but can include: suspension of one's (real) driver's license, jail time, fines and community service. Furthermore, this also applies to any real IDs borrowed from any other person as well.