Printing advances spur rise of US fake ID mills

Advances in home printing are helping counterfeit document manufacturers operate from within the US.

Last year US senators pressed for action against Chinese manufacturers of fake identification documents, but they now face problems much closer to home. Technological advances have supported the rise of neighbourhood fake identification mills across the US.

"Capabilities of those desktop printers is getting more sophisticated,” Carolyn Bayer-Broring, a forensic document examiner, told ABC7. Widespread availability of printers capable of making documents that, at first glance, appear genuine has made small-scale counterfeiting viable.

Recent indictments in Washington, DC allege two separate fake identification rings are active. The groups allegedly receive a customer’s information and photograph on their mobile phones. A computer and printer is then used to put together fake identification which sells for $100.

In Washington, DC and nearby Baltimore immigrations and customs officials have seized 1,100 such fake identification documents since 2008.