There’s nothing new about the problems ‘novelty’ IDs pose

For authorities, it’s a constant fight to stay ahead of the counterfeiters.

Fake driver’s licenses and other identification cards have been around since bars started carding people. But in recent years, counterfeiters with access to the same technology used to make legitimate IDs are generating fake IDs so sophisticated that they bypass many of the established deterrents. 

According to Rick Goodling, a Pennsylvania State Police corporal with the Bureau of Liquor Control Enforcement, these online companies have changed the way law enforcement combats fake IDs.

“[Until recently], most fake IDs were made by college kids and were much easier to recognize,” said Goodling, who explained that for the past four years, Liquor Control Enforcement has trained other law enforcement agencies to help them spot such bogus cards. 

Sold online as “novelty IDs,” the most sophisticated  fake IDs cost between $100 and $200. These so-called novelty IDs, embedded with scan-strip data and holograms, leave bartenders and store clerks struggling to identify them and often relying on old-fashioned methods to keep underage customers out of their establishments. 

For Ryan Woldt, the general manager of Pizza Sola, there is no replacement for an experienced bartender.

“The new fake IDs are so advanced that they may fake the scanner or fake the holograms,” said Woldt, referring to the ability of these cards to trick the machines present in many bars and alcohol retailers. Some of these machines read the authentication strip on the back of a Pennsylvania ID, and others shine a light on the card, revealing any holograms embedded within it. 

Woldt noted that the scanners and hologram machines might give bartenders a false sense of security, and insisted that bartenders still have to rely on their judgment. He claimed that he is usually able to determine a fake by examining the card rather than running it through a machine. 

According to Woldt, Pizza Sola is most likely to see a fake ID during the very beginning or very end of a semester.

“We take it upon ourselves to go above and beyond,” Woldt said. “My general rule is, even when it’s obvious [that someone is of legal age], we go ahead and check the ID.” 

Woldt cited his business’ reputation as one reason to enforce the law, stating that, once an establishment receives a reputation for serving underage drinkers, then the problem only gets worse. 

Liability is another big issue, said Woldt, who mentioned the dram shop law, a state law in Pennsylvania and many other states that can hold an establishment accountable if it serves alcohol to someone who goes on to cause injury or death to a third party.

Katie Keenan has managed Hemingway’s Cafe for 11 years. According to her, some of the newer fake IDs can be pretty difficult to detect. Her strategy at Hemingway’s is to hire intelligent, alert doormen.

“The doormen touch so many IDs that they can just tell [when one is fake],” said Keenan.

Keenan noted that in addition to new, high-tech fakes, some underage drinkers still use the old technique of acquiring a duplicate ID from an older sibling or friend. In that case, the scan and swipe systems are useless since the problem is not that the ID is fraudulent, but rather, that it’s in the hands of the wrong person. Having dealt with this issue for years, Keenan’s approach is to ask for a second form of ID when in doubt.

“If your ID doesn’t swipe, you’re definitely not getting in,” said Keenan, although Hemingway’s does include under-21 seating in the front dining area until 10 p.m. She said that detection systems are only the first line of defense, and ultimately the doorman has full reign to decide who is admitted.

According to Stacy Kriedeman, Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board director of external affairs, employees of the Pennsylvania Wine & Spirits Shop on Atwood Street, checked 4,263 ID cards last month. The store policy is to swipe the card, visually inspect the ID and verify that the information printed from the swipe matches the information on the ID. Kriedeman said that the overwhelming majority of IDs passed the check. 

“We will ask for additional identification [if the ID appears suspicious],” said Kriedeman. “If the clerk cannot substantiate that the customer is 21 or older, we will refuse the sale.”

Kriedeman said that store employees become very skilled at spotting fakes and that would-be underage drinkers should not expecct to be able to purchase alcohol just because they’ve bought a fake ID online. 

Goodling said that, while the system isn’t perfect, alcohol retailers are often the best-trained in detecting a fake. In addition, he said that getting caught with a fake could limit a student’s employment opportunities after graduation. Often, police will press charges, not only for possession of fraudulent identification, but also for underage drinking.

“The law states that underage drinking could get you a 90-day loss of license,” said Goodling, as well as a one-year loss of licences for a second offense. “So it is a deterrent.”

There is no legal burden on a bar to report a fake ID to law enforcement, but according to Goodling, Liquor Control Enforcement has developed relationships with some bars and distributors to report a confiscated fake ID.  

The control enforcement also runs a program in which it sends 18- to 20-year-olds into bars, six-pack shops and distributors in an attempt to purchase alcohol with their own legitimate, albeit under-21 IDs. In 38 percent of these attempts, the underage customer was able to buy alcohol. 

“We’re trying,” said Goodling. “It’s a never-ending battle.”