So, Why Don’t Fake IDs Work?

On Friday, Feb. 13, TikTok was flooded with videos and comments claiming that OldIron, Bogus Braxtor and IDGod fake IDs “no longer scan”. Users took to the app posting videos and comments, warning their friends and followers.

“I go to the same bar every week and my ID came up as fake and it was taken.”

“The beer store I always go to took my fake and called the cops.”

“I got the ID scanner app off of the app store and my ID scanned before, now it says its potentially could be fake.” 

These comments and videos were all over TikTok, group chats and Snapchat, becoming the talk of Gen Z. 

If you open a new tab and search “Why don’t fake IDs scan anymore?”, nothing recent or relevant comes up. If basically all fake IDs no longer work, why are there no articles about this?

Who cracked the case? How long had this investigation been going on? How did fake IDs scan yesterday but not today? While this is a huge deal, it is not being talked about in the media. Why is that? 

There are so many questions but little to no answers. I have spent hours searching for answers. I found that individuals were posting to reddit. I would read communities, save the URL and return hours later for the page not to be found. 

One article I found from Westchester and FairField County Business Journal, written by Bill Heltzel, states that “Investigators found an ID printer, 3,000 blank ID cards, 11 packages of laminate sleeves, three fake Social Security cards, more than 100 fake ID cards, dozens of fake OSHA cards and a passport in the name of another individual.” While this article was posted Jan. 25, is this information related to the “big bust”?

Mackenzie Moore, at The Daily Cardinal, wrote “The average GPA for the fall 2021 semester was just under 3.4, whereas the assignments turned in since last Thursday have bumped the school’s average up to 3.8. Further, attendance of Friday classes has improved by 20%” in regards to grades following the fake ID scandal. 

Then I found a FaceBook page, there is no name associated with the page. The title of the page is @securelicense on Facebook with a page titled “Keeping IDentities Safe”. There are multiple posts on the page, but nothing saying that this information is related to all IDs no longer working.  

“Two men ran multi-year operation selling counterfeit IDs of all types […] Michael Kruise Williams, 30, of Mamaroneck, and Pedro “Pesos” Vasquez, 28, of the Bronx, in a criminal complaint unsealed in U.S. District Court, White Plains that describes a scheme to make and sell phony OSHA safety cards, drivers licenses, Social Security cards and birth certificates.”

“In July 2020, Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) received information from Customs and Border Protection officers at the JFK Mail Facility regarding the seizure of a package intended for Williams containing laminates with holograms resembling those used on driver licenses in Connecticut, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Florida.”

Since Feb. 13, I have seen TikTok’s of kids using their fake IDs stating that they still work. 

I don’t know what to think. Was this just a rumor started and spread by Gen Z?

Whatever the case is, remember to be safe out there, collegiettes!