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Police war on fake ID factories as fraudsters net millions
Justin Davenport, Crime Correspondent13.10.09
Scotland Yard is battling to stop criminal gangs turning London into the identity theft capital of the world.
The gangs are setting up fake-ID factories using printers bought at high street shops. The Met has shut at least 20 “factories” in the last 18 months and believes more than 30,000 fake identities are in circulation.
Police examined 12,000 of them and established they were behind a racket worth £14 million.
One £750 printer was withdrawn from sale at PC World after detectives revealed it could produce replicas of the proposed new ID card and EU driving licences.
Commander Nigel Mawer, who leads the Yard's fight against fraud, said: “There are a significant number of fake-ID factories that are producing documents for lots of different purposes.
“We have dismantled over 20 in the last 18 months and we have 27 convictions with criminals being jailed for a total of 40 years. We have also built up a database of 30,000 fake identities which are currently in circulation.”
Crimes range from immigration and benefit fraud to money cons.
In some cases criminals are forging documents using the names of people whose identities have been stolen from credit reference agencies.
Many of the forgeries are “know your customer” documents such as utility bills and driving licences, which are then used to open bank accounts under false names.
Mr Mawer added: “There are people with dual identities, one real and one for committing crime.” He revealed that specialist printers capable of making convincing ID documents such as EU driving licences could be bought for £750, though others cost £5,000.
The cost of equipment needed to set up ID factories is falling, making them easier to establish. Scotland Yard is working closely with manufacturers and retailers on a scheme named Project Genesius to keep printers out of the hands of criminals.
At present it is voluntary but police want the system regulated so all manufacturers abide by the code.
Detective chief inspector Nick Downing, an ID fraud expert, said PC World was planning to sell one sophisticated £750 printer but was persuaded not to stock it. He said: “These machines can manufacture any form of ID card. The frightening thing is you can go on the internet and get all the computer bits you need to set up an ID factory in 24 hours.
“This is real bespoke equipment that can manufacture passports, National Insurance cards, passport entry stamps or driving licences.”
A spokesman for the Identity and Passport Service, said: "It is absolutely wrong to suggest that it is possible to copy or clone the National Identity Card."
Reader views (19)
It must be obvious now to all concerned that the UK ID card and associated database have absolutely nothing to do with our security whatsoever. Enough actual experts on the subject have utterly trashed this scheme to show the instant gurus in the Home Office and IPS that they are not going to do any of the things that the HO's marketing suggests they will. Given that they are still steaming ahead with all engines full, what then do they want them for? There are two choices.
1 - Incompetence
They are still being taken in by their own hype and seriously believe that the rest of the experts are wrong and that ID cards will stop terrorism, fraud, ID theft, child rapists, the greenhouse effect and near earth orbit collisions.
2 - Something else
The ID cards are a distraction and the real prize is the database, giving everyone a unique key across all other government and quango databases. This allows a multi-database-search to be executed across all linked databases, giving the searcher a complete picture of the searchee; from health records to tax records, to school records, to car registrations etc etc etc. Something no government, however benign and competent should ever have within it's power.
So .. what do you think .. which would you prefer to believe; that New Labour have gone completely overboard and are completely incompetent, or that they are actually trying to put together their very own doomsday list.
- Andrew Meredith Ceng Citp, Chippenham, Wiltshire
Identity fraud is nothing new but if this government wasn't so hell bent on data bases and everyone being obliged to carry ID cards then identity fraud would have reached the scale that it has.
- Gareth Grollope, Leighton Buzzard
Wake up world,nothing is safe anymore,look at the fiver or ten pound note in your pocket,are you sure it is not fake and what about the fifty pound note.Here in Italy,the twenty euro notes have to be checked as they are the most commonly faked.That Luis Vuitton bag you have,is it original?The credit card just used in your shop and the Id.are they real or Fake?here in Italy they have cloned car number plates,people receive parking fines from Naples when their car has never left Milan.
There is a way to stop forged passports,that is for every country in the world to use a memory bank so as when I produce my passport in any country,my photo comes up on the screen,faked passports could never be used anywhere.
- David Nigel Braham, Milan Italy
Falsifying documents has been going on for long. Why sudden holahoo!!.;'/;'??? Scare tactic by the Government to justify need fo I.D cards.//
- Philip, Slough
I bet the criminal charge less then the passport office!! its nearly cheaper to buy a sublimation printer and make your own!!
- Weni, yes
By the same chalk, the Police should close down the government's national ID scheme. The FBI's ID fraud expert judged it would produce a proliferation of ID fraud.
Biometrics are not foolproof. My new laptop has a fingerprint reader and the manual has lots of disclaimers about accuracy. I can see why China has not gone for biometrics on its ID cards - mix the notorious error rate and a large population and you have one big problem!
- Jppls, London
We need security cards, for our security cards, then security guards to check our security cards, for our security.
I feel so insecure these days, with all our security?
- Mickinlondon, london
Fake ID factories need to be very high on the Police
"hit list", but even if they are not then Compulsory ID Cards must NOT be introduced into this country for the home bred population.
- Joe Jones, Leicester UK
Biometrics are the key to all of our problems. You cannot buy a printer in PC World to change you iris or fingerprints!
Luckily the government just happens to be rolling out biometric passports and ID cards, sounds like they need to hurry up about it, and make sure there are enough machines to read them in the right places...
- Joe S, London
Simple DNA sample taken when applying would be useful when checking if person has suspicious ID papers.
- Fred, London
Never forget that the criminals only produce fake ID documents because people will buy them. Similar penalties should apply not only to those who manufacture the fake documents but also to those who use them.
- Patrick, Dalston
Another example of how Labours foolish open border policy has led to the unbridled importation of crime and drugs.
- Richard, London
The crooks are at the finishing line well before these stupid Labour wombles have even started the race.
The UK Border Agency (quango) do not have the slightest idea of how many illegal immigrants there currently are in the UK - similarly, The UKBA do not know how many different identities these migrants each possess.
No wonder the bankrupt UK is the laughing stock of the world.
The real point here is simply that the Gnome Office (bulging to the rafters with fat-cat lawyers on £500,000.00pa PLUS EXPENSES)actually believe they are clever.
Clever they are most definitely not.
Chinless, faceless muppets who could not make a positive decision even if it were to jump off their desk and bite them where it hurts.
- Reuben Camara, Morecambe Compound, EUSSR
I might as well sell my ID and buy a better one. Always fancied being a Lord or General when I was a kid.
- Den, London
'According to [Phil] Booth [of No2ID], employers who doubted the authenticity of the card had been told to flick it to check for a distinctive sound.
"This is the mechanism by which employers are supposed to be checking a worker's identity - it is farcical," he said.'
- Alex, Bristol, England
"criminals are ahead of the game and are already geared up to fake them"
Criminals can also fake, passports, credit and debit cards, cheques, share certificates and so on, so, are you suggesting we do away with them too?
What we need is 20 year jail terms for those who are involved in making fakes and not knee-jerk reactions.
- John Smith, Londonistan, EUSSR
The minute one new national ID card gets falsified the minute the country has lost $9bn on a useless ill thought out scheme brought in by politicians who are no longer there and can't be held accountable.
Foreign crooks and people traffickers must be laughing at our attempts.
- Hansel, London
My passport was stolen in 2008. When I reported the crime at West End Central police station I was told that the street value would be about £30 - the same as a French ID card! There is no point introducing an ID card scheme in Britain.
- Simon Ellis, London
All the while the government continues to push through ID cards, conspicuously ignoring the constant scream of real experts in the field telling them how woefully conceived and crassly executed it is, and now it is becoming in-your-face obvious the criminals are ahead of the game and are already geared up to fake them.
- Threaded, Roskilde, Denmark
