STOP PHONY LICENSES COMING FROM CHINA!

SCHUMER CALLS FOR CRACKDOWN ON NEW GENERATION OF HIGH- TECH FAKE DRIVERS' LICENSES SHIPPED FROM CHINA THAT PROMOTE UNDERAGE DRINKING AND DRUNK DRIVING AMONG LONG ISLAND TEENS

Increasingly Popular Phony IDs Easily Obtained With Cash Wire Transfers; IDs Are Indistinguishable from Real Drivers' Licenses and Include Security Features Like Holograms and Magnetic Strips

Schumer Presses Wire Services to Work with Homeland Security to Identify Sellers and Block Payments

Schumer: Underage Drinking - and Drinking and Driving - is Already a Scourge on Long Island, We Don't Need Chinese-Made Forgeries, Purchased Via the Internet, Contributing to the Epidemic

On Tuesday, United States Senator Charles E. Schumer, joined by Rockville Centre Police Commissioner Chuck Gennario, Mayor Francis Murray, and local police at Kasey's American Grill on Park Ave., called on the major wire transfers services to work with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to identify and block cash payment transfers to operators in China that peddle fake drivers' licenses that are indistinguishable from the real thing. These high-tech Chinese-made fake IDs include features like holograms, watermarks, and magnetic strips, making them almost identical to driver's licenses issued by state Departments of Motor Vehicles. These IDs, manufactured in China, are shipped throughout the country and hidden in shoeboxes and other packaging to disguise their contents and evade authorities.

"Underage drinking on Long Island is already an epidemic, and the last thing we need is for scam artists in China to add fuel to the fire by providing fake IDs to underage kids," said Schumer. "The Department of Homeland Security needs to identify the source of these outrageous fakes and work with wire service companies to strangle the source of their funding and shut them down."

Fake IDs from China are sold for anywhere between $100-$300, depending on the quantity of IDs ordered. Just recently, more than 1,700 fake drivers' licenses for states like Ohio, Florida, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania were confiscated at O'Hare International Airport and were headed for Chicago's suburbs. Twenty IDs, purportedly from China, were also confiscated from patrons at a Washington, DC nightclub and six additional Chinese-sourced IDs were confiscated from a 19-year-old man in Fargo just this week. And this past March, 42 fake IDs were confiscated from a package delivered to a student at Columbia University that was shipped from a Chinese-based manufacturer. The student admitted to purchasing the IDs online. 

In his letter to the major wire services, Schumer pointed out that while at one time fake IDs were primarily created and manufactured with primitive means in college dorm rooms, this onetime cottage industry has become highly sophisticated and has created a significant customer base throughout the United States.  Schumer noted that he would be reaching out to the Department of Homeland Security to coordinate efforts with these wire services to help crackdown on the sale of these fake IDs, both to stem the tide of underage drinking and to stop other potentially illegal and dangerous activities that phony identification could be used for. 

According to the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA), in 2009, 33 percent of young drivers (15 to 20 years old) who were killed in crashes had a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of .01 or higher and 28 percent had a BAC of .08 or higher - the legal limit for alcohol content for individuals over 21 years of age. According to the Century Council, a not-for-profit funded by distillers that works to combat underage drinking, there were 45 alcohol-related fatalities in New York in 2009 involving underage drinkers; 279 teens under 18 were arrested for drunk driving, and 895 teens under the age of 18 were arrested for violating liquor laws. 

According to the Institute for Traffic Safety Management and Research there were 624 police-reported alcohol-related accidents in Nassau County in 2009, of which 24 were fatal. In total there were 28 deaths and 526 injuries. Nassau ranks second among counties in New York State in terms of the number of drunk driving accidents and fatalities.  In Suffolk, there were 962 police-reported alcohol-related accidents in 2009. Forty-eight of those crashes were fatal, resulting in 50 deaths and 779 injuries. Suffolk ranks first in New York for drunk driving accidents and fatalities. 

"These phony IDs are nothing more than all-access passes that allow underage kids to illegally gain entry into bars and liquor stores that they otherwise wouldn't be able to get into," said Schumer. "The consequences of underage drinking are too severe and too heart breaking to allow this to go on unchecked. By identifying the source of these IDs and cutting off funding, we can help ensure that Long Island families aren't forced to deal with the tragedies that often result from underage drinking."

A copy of Schumer's letter can be found below: 

August 9, 2011

Dear Mr. Ersek, Ms. Patsley, and Mr. Thompson,

I write to you today to enlist your help in combating a troubling development regarding online sales of fraudulent and illegal identification cards (IDs) including passports and state-issued drivers' licenses.   It has been reported that dozens of overseas retailers are offering these IDs for users to purchase online without proof of authenticity.  As a result, these retailers act as a pipeline for dangerous and illegal activities, such as underage drinking and driving that pose a threat to New York and the rest of the country.  

I therefore ask that you work together with the Department of Homeland Security, who I am asking separately to provide you with the names and identities of companies and persons selling these IDs in violation of the law, to crack down on the online sale of fake IDs by blocking payments to these identified online retailers. 

I have long fought the illegal distribution of fake IDs and underage drinking in New York and nationwide.  However, this industry has transformed into a far more sophisticated and international market that is designed to evade law enforcement. Fake driver's licenses are now being produced by Chinese companies that have mailed thousands of these IDs across the United States and can produce exact replicas of driver's licenses from various states. These licenses endanger our children, and can potentially lead to serious consequences such as drunk driving and alcohol poisoning.  In some cases, these false identifications have computer chips that can be read locally and can fool scanners that do not have access to databases to determine the authenticity of these identifications. 

Today, the fight against the illegal distribution of fake IDs continues - and I believe, must intensify - in order to stop these retailers from compromising our security simply to make a profit by selling these products online.  I highly encourage you to work together with me to stop this dangerous trend by refusing to process payments to the online retailers engaged in selling these high-tech fake IDs. 

I strongly believe you can play a crucial role in the effort to halt the internet sales of fraudulent and illegal IDs.  I strongly urge that we all work together to address this growing problem by blocking payments to these retailers and preventing the sale of these IDs.  Thank you for consideration of this request.