Underage students are not only buying books for college, but some are also shopping for fake IDs.
COLUMBIA (WACH) -- It's easy to be 21 with the help of internet. A quick search for fake IDs and underage teens can access many different websites selling illegal ID cards.
“They were given an address to send a Western Union money order and they sent it in with the stuff they were told to give them and they got perfect IDs,” recalls Emily Bach, a bartender at Yesterdays in Five Points.
Bach knows an underage group of girls whom obtained counterfeit drivers licenses made in China for $200 a piece. She says they also had to mail a photo and some personal information in addition to wiring money overseas.
“I wouldn't have known it was a fake,” Bach said.
One site WACH Fox News found lists videos of different IDs from across the country, so the buyer can see exactly what he or she is paying for.
According to Executive Director Kevin Shwedo of the SC Department of Motor Vehicles, the IDs made in China are so similar to the ones in the states that it takes an expert to see the differences between the real and fake driver’s licenses.
“The Chinese produce an excellent credential. It scares me from the perspective that one of the most critical things you have right now is your identity,” says Shwedo. “We are going to have to develop the technology that truly identifies you to your card, but we are years away from that.”
Last fall, South Carolina released a new and improved ID which has three levels of security; however, it’s already being duplicated.
“The next phase is probably what they call a polycarbonate card,” Schwedo adds.
In the meantime, he believes education and enforcement against fake IDs are the best ways to prevent teens from using them.
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