REPORT - Phony ID & Crdentials Via The Internet 107-133 (Feb 2002)

1
107th Congress REPORT

" SENATE !
2d Session 107–133
PHONY IDENTIFICATION AND CREDENTIALS

VIA THE INTERNET
REPORT
PREPARED BY THE
PERMANENT SUBCOMMITTEE ON
INVESTIGATIONS
OF THE
COMMITTEE ON GOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS

UNITED STATES SENATE
FEBRUARY 4, 2002.—Ordered to be printed
U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE

99–010 WASHINGTON : 2002
VerDate 11-MAY-2000 13:12 Feb 05, 2002 Jkt 099010 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 4012 Sfmt 5012 E:\HR\OC\SR133.XXX pfrm04 PsN: SR133
COMMITTEE ON GOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS
JOSEPH I. LIEBERMAN, Connecticut, Chairman
CARL LEVIN, Michigan FRED THOMPSON, Tennessee
DANIEL K. AKAKA, Hawaii TED STEVENS, Alaska
RICHARD J. DURBIN, Illinois SUSAN M. COLLINS, Maine
ROBERT G. TORRICELLI, New Jersey GEORGE V. VOINOVICH, Ohio
MAX CLELAND, Georgia PETE V. DOMENICI, New Mexico
THOMAS R. CARPER, Delaware THAD COCHRAN, Mississippi
JEAN CARNAHAN, Missouri ROBERT F. BENNETT, Utah
MARK DAYTON, Minnesota JIM BUNNING, Kentucky
JOYCE A. RECHTSCHAFFEN, Staff Director and Counsel
HANNAH S. SISTARE, Minority Staff Director and Counsel
DARLA D. CASSELL, Chief Clerk
PERMANENT SUBCOMMITTEE ON INVESTIGATIONS

CARL LEVIN, Michigan, Chairman SUSAN M. COLLINS, Maine
DANIEL K. AKAKA, Hawaii TED STEVENS, Alaska
RICHARD J. DURBIN, Illinois GEORGE V. VOINOVICH, Ohio
ROBERT G. TORRICELLI, New Jersey PETE V. DOMENICI, New Mexico
MAX CLELAND, Georgia THAD COCHRAN, Mississippi
THOMAS R. CARPER, Delaware ROBERT F. BENNETT, Utah
JEAN CARNAHAN, Missouri JIM BUNNING, Kentucky
MARK DAYTON, Minnesota
LINDA J. GUSTITUS, Chief Counsel and Staff Director
KIM CORTHELL, Minority Staff Director
EILEEN M. FISHER, Investigator to the Minority
MARY D. ROBERTSON, Chief Clerk
(II)
CONTENTS
Executive Summary ................................................................................................. 1

I. Introduction .......................................................................................................... 5
A. Summary of Investigation .............................................................................. 5
B. Methods of Using the Internet to Find False Identification Materials ...... 7
C. Earliest Websites Offering False Identification Information ....................... 8
D. Legal Framework ............................................................................................ 9
(1) Federal Legislative History ...................................................................... 9
(2) Loopholes Caused by Advances in Technology ....................................... 11
(3) Internet False Identification Prevention Act of 2000 ............................ 12
II. The Subcommittee Investigation ....................................................................... 13
A. Methods of Providing False Identification Materials by Internet Sites ..... 13
(1) Some Websites Offer False Identification Information and Tools ........ 14
(2) Some Websites Offer to Manufacture False Identification .................... 14
B. Types of False Identification Materials Available on the Internet ............. 15
(1) Templates and Other Tools ...................................................................... 15
(2) False Identification Documents ............................................................... 17
(a) State Driver’s Licenses and Identification Cards ............................. 17
(b) Other Identity Documents .................................................................. 18
(c) ‘‘Breeder’’ Documents ........................................................................... 20
C. Marketing Practices ........................................................................................ 20
(1) Message Boards and Chat Rooms ............................................................ 20
(2) Deceptive Practices ................................................................................... 22
(3) Search Engine Placement and Keywords ............................................... 24
D. Disclaimers Have Little or No Legal Impact ................................................ 25
(1) Claims of Novelty ...................................................................................... 25
(2) Disclaimers Do Not Discourage Sales ..................................................... 26
(3) Operators Use Disclaimers as a Shield ................................................... 27
(4) Legal Challenges to Disclaimers .............................................................. 29
E. Role of the Internet ......................................................................................... 30
(1) The Internet Allows Instantaneous and Anonymous Sales and
Transfers of False Identification ............................................................. 30
(2) Website Operators Disguise Their Names and Locations ..................... 33
F. Websites Offering False Identification Materials Facilitate Other Crimes 35
(1) Identity Theft ............................................................................................ 37
(2) Recent Terrorist Acts May Have Been Facilitated by False Identi-
fication ...................................................................................................... 38
(3) Infiltration of Federal Facilities Using Phony Identification ................ 39
III. Case Studies ...................................................................................................... 40
A. The Sellers ....................................................................................................... 40
(1) Robert Sek: theidshop.com ....................................................................... 40
(a) Business ............................................................................................... 40
(b) Products ............................................................................................... 41
(c) Subcommittee Purchase ...................................................................... 41
(d) Disclaimer ............................................................................................ 41
(2) Brett Carreras: fakeid.net ........................................................................ 43
(a) Business ............................................................................................... 43
(b) Products ............................................................................................... 43
(c) Disclaimer ............................................................................................ 44
(d) Related Websites ................................................................................. 44
(3) Tim Beachum: bestfakeids.com ................................................................ 45
(a) Business ............................................................................................... 45
(b) Products ............................................................................................... 45
(c) Subcommittee Purchase ...................................................................... 46
(d) Disclaimer ............................................................................................ 50
(III)
IV
Page
(4) Tim Catron: fakeidzone.com ..................................................................... 50
(a) Business ............................................................................................... 50
(b) Products ............................................................................................... 50
(c) Disclaimer ............................................................................................ 51
(d) Other Online Activities ....................................................................... 51
(5) Josh Dansereau ......................................................................................... 52
(a) Business ............................................................................................... 52
(b) Products ............................................................................................... 52
(c) Disclaimer ............................................................................................ 53
(d) Legal Situation .................................................................................... 53
B. The Buyers ....................................................................................................... 54
(1) Thomas Seitz ............................................................................................. 54
(a) Legal Situation .................................................................................... 54
(b) Internet Activities ............................................................................... 54
(c) Creating False Documents .................................................................. 56
(2) Thana Barlee ............................................................................................. 57
(a) Background .......................................................................................... 57
(b) Internet Activities ............................................................................... 57
C. Referrals ........................................................................................................... 58
IV. Conclusion .......................................................................................................... 59
A. General Services Administration Smart Card Technology for Federal
Facilities .......................................................................................................... 59
B. Law Enforcement’s Response to Crimes Using False Identification ........... 60
C. Implementing New Legislation ...................................................................... 61
PHONY IDENTIFICATION AND CREDENTIALS
VIA THE INTERNET
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The proliferation of false identification has become a serious pub-
lic safety issue. False identification documents and credentials can
enable criminals to commit a host of crimes ranging from identity
theft to bank and credit card fraud and allow them to fund larger
and more dangerous criminal activities. Phony identification can
also enable criminals to obtain bona fide, yet unsupported and un-
authorized, identification documents such as driver’s licenses.
Moreover, criminals may be able to evade law enforcement by hid-
ing behind their false identities. Failing to curb the spread of false
identification can have grave consequences, in fact, evidence indi-
cates that some associates of the Al Qaeda terrorist organization
may have used false identification and immigration documents.
Also alarming is the ease with which General Accounting Office
(GAO) investigators were able to breach security at 21 of the most
secure buildings in the United States, including the Central Intel-
ligence Agency (CIA), the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI),
and several airports by claiming—falsely, using easily-obtained
phony identification—that they were armed law enforcement offi-
cers. GAO investigators displayed fake law enforcement badges and
phony credentials that they themselves had crafted using graphics
software and images culled from Internet websites, and which bore
little resemblance to the genuine articles. When the investigators
presented themselves at security checkpoints, they were waved
around metal detectors and were not screened.
In a similar operation at sensitive Defense Department facilities
in May 2001 commissioned by Senator Susan M. Collins, GAO in-
vestigators easily penetrated the sites using readily-obtainable
false identification—thus demonstrating their vulnerability to un-
authorized access by criminals and terrorists. GAO’s findings in
these multiple penetration tests demonstrate that, in addition to
the lax security measures in place at Federal facilities and airports,
the Internet and computer technology allow nearly anyone easily to
create convincing identification cards and credentials.
In December 1999, under the chairmanship of Senator Susan M.
Collins, the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations began a 5-
month investigation into the availability of false identification via
the Internet. The Subcommittee’s investigation was prompted in
part by an e-mail message received by a Subcommittee investigator
that solicited her to purchase counterfeit driver’s licenses. The Sub-
committee began investigating to determine the extent to which
false identification could be obtained via the Internet and found
(1)
2
that there are a myriad of websites offering false identification ma-

terials.
The Subcommittee examined more than 60 websites offering
false identification materials, issued 11 subpoenas for documents
and depositions, and interviewed more than 40 witnesses. The Sub-
committee also conducted an undercover operation to purchase
false identification materials—and received, in turn, several high
quality products, including a counterfeit Oklahoma driver’s license.
Based on the results of this undercover operation, the Sub-
committee focused its attention on three website operators each of
whom offered high quality products that could be used to produce
credible false identification and credentials.
The Subcommittee’s investigation found that false identification
materials are distributed over the Internet through a number of
methods. Some websites offer to make identification documents for
customers which are then delivered by mail. Others offer the com-
puter files, known as ‘‘templates,’’ necessary to manufacture false
identification documents. Customers may purchase access to the
templates and download them to their own computers, or purchase
a computer disk containing the template files. Still other operators
simply offer the templates for free.
Templates are typically graphic files which can be manipulated
to hide and/or reveal images and text. Individuals can also add im-
ages and text, such as photographs or signatures, to templates in
order to customize them. To make a driver’s license, for example,
an individual would insert a photo and signature, and type in the
desired name and address. The individual would then print the
document, and laminate it, thereby creating a highly realistic false
identification document. A single software template can be used an
infinite number of times, by an infinite number of individuals, and
can be transmitted via computer disk, or in an instant via the
Internet.
As a result of its investigation, the Subcommittee has drawn
three general conclusions. First, many Internet sites offer a wide
variety of phony identification documents, some of which are of
very high quality and include security features commonly used by
government agencies to deter counterfeiting. These include driver’s
licenses from all 50 States, birth certificates, Social Security cards,
military identification cards, student identifications, diplomas,
press credentials, and Federal agency credentials such as those
used by the FBI and CIA. The Subcommittee also found products
such as Social Security number generators, bar code generators,
and instructions for creating holograms.
Second, the disclaimers that can be found on many websites are
at odds with the marketing strategy pursued by the operators of
those websites. The Subcommittee found that operators frequently
attempted to shield themselves by claiming that their products
were ‘‘for novelty purposes only.’’ At the same time, however, oper-
ators commonly implied that their products were so authentic in
appearance as to be illegal—something they clearly considered to
be a marketing asset. For example, the Subcommittee found one
website that offered a ‘‘New Identity Kit’’ purporting to contain
‘‘[e]verything you need to create a new identity for fun!!’’ yet which
encouraged Internet users to order quickly, ‘‘before we are shut
3
down by the authorities.’’ Another website operator informed his

customers that his products were for ‘‘entertainment and edu-
cational purposes only,’’ yet urged them to use the documents on
his website to get a job.
Third, the Internet has played a leading role in fostering the
manufacture and the sale of high quality false identification, and
has made these products available to a vast customer base with
virtual anonymity for both the sellers and the buyers. This has, in
turn, presented significant challenges for law enforcement. For ex-
ample, one operator, in an attempt to disguise his true location,
registered his website in the Philippines and provided an e-mail
address that appeared to originate from another small country in
the South Pacific. (The Subcommittee determined through his bill-
ing records, however, that he was actually located in Kansas.)
The Subcommittee’s investigation culminated in a hearing, enti-
tled Phony IDs and Credentials Via the Internet—An Emerging
Problem, which was held on May 19, 2000. The hearing witnesses
were K. Lee Blalack, II, then-Chief Counsel and Staff Director of
the Subcommittee; Agent David C. Myers from the Identification
Fraud Coordinator for the State of Florida’s Division of Alcoholic
Beverages and Tobacco (now Lieutenant Myers); Thomas Seitz, a
convicted felon; and the Hon. Brian Stafford, Director of the U.S.
Secret Service.
In his hearing testimony, Mr. Blalack outlined the scope of the
Subcommittee’s investigation, and discussed the Subcommittee’s
case studies of Brett Carreras, Tim Beachum and Tim Catron, who
sold false identification materials over the Internet. Lieutenant
Myers provided an overview of Internet sales of false identification
documents, and detailed several investigations of website operators
that he and his team had led, and that the Subcommittee also ex-
amined. Thomas Seitz testified about the false identification docu-
ments he was able to obtain over the Internet, and the crimes he
was able to commit using these phony documents. (These actions
resulted in his conviction on four felony counts, a 3-year State sen-
tence and a 7-month Federal sentence.) Finally, Director Stafford
testified about the proliferation of Internet crime and how the
Internet facilitates identity theft and other serious crimes through
the use of false identification documents. He also outlined the role
of the U.S. Secret Service in trying to curb such activity.
The Subcommittee’s hearing made clear that technological devel-
opments during the past few years have significantly increased the
dangers associated with the production and marketing of phony
identification documents. Today, both the necessary skills and ma-
terials are well within the reach of a growing number of people. As
then-Chairman Collins noted in her opening statement:
‘‘These counterfeit documents are relatively easy to manu-
facture. With only a modest understanding of the Internet
and $50 worth of supplies purchased from an arts and
crafts store, one can design authentic-looking identification
documents within a few hours or even minutes.’’ 1
1 Phony IDs and Credentials Via the Internet: An Emerging Problem: Hearings before the Per-
manent Subcommittee on Investigations, Senate Committee on Governmental Affairs, 106th
Continued
4
Moreover, it is becoming even easier to obtain and create false

identification documents, which can then be used for a wide variety
of improper and illegal purposes. Senator Carl Levin noted in his
opening statement, for example, that false identification documents
are
‘‘often now being used to carry out improper or criminal
activities—to obtain fraudulent loans, to evade taxes, to
establish a new identity, to steal another individual’s iden-
tity, to defraud Federal and State Governments, to mis-
represent one’s residence or place of birth or age for any
variety of purposes.’’ 2
Indeed, a criminal can use phony identification documents and
credentials as so-called ‘‘breeder’’ documents, as a means of gaining
access to bona fide identification materials. Seitz obtained a phony
birth certificate, for instance, to obtain a State identification card,
which while itself authentic (insofar as it was properly issued by
the relevant authorities), was based on false supporting documents
and contained false information. Through these means, Seitz ob-
tained unauthorized yet ‘‘authentic’’ documents, which are particu-
larly difficult to detect. These ‘‘authentic’’ documents can then be
used to commit a host of crimes, including bank fraud, as Seitz un-
fortunately demonstrated. Although at the time of this report in-
vestigations into the terrorist atrocities of September 11, 2001, are
still in the early stages, it appears that some individuals associated
with these acts may also have used false supporting documents to
obtain ‘‘authentic’’ false identification.
The Internet has visibly changed the false identification indus-
try. In his testimony before the Subcommittee, Lieutenant Myers
estimated that 30 percent of the false identification documents his
office seized during the year 2000 had been obtained via the Inter-
net—up from only about 1 percent just 2 years previously. More-
over, Lieutenant Myers expected this figure to rise to between 60
and 70 percent for 2001.3 Indeed, Trent Sands, the author of a re-
cent book on false identification, claims that the Internet should be
credited with reviving the false identification business:
‘‘The Internet has breathed new life into the world of false
identification. Many new companies are springing up to
meet the needs of those who want documentation saying
they are someone else. * * * The robust health of the mail-
order and Internet identification business is in stark con-
trast to the situation of just a few years ago.’’
Since the Subcommittee began its investigation and began con-
tacting website operators, most of the individuals examined, includ-
ing Tim Catron and Tim Beachum, have removed their websites
from the Internet. Others, such as Brett Carreras, have curtailed
their activities. The Subcommittee has also made referrals of po-
tential violations of Federal and State law to the appropriate mem-
bers of the law enforcement community, urging authorities to in-
Congress, 2nd Session (May 19, 2000) [hereinafter ‘‘Hearing record’’], at 2 (remarks of Senator
Collins).
2 Id. at 4 (remarks of Senator Carl Levin).
3 Id. at 20 (testimony of Lieutenant David C. Myers).
5
vestigate further the activities of several individuals involved with

manufacturing and distributing false identification documents.
Nevertheless, operators continue to spring up to take the places of
those who have closed their websites and offer false identification
and credentials over the Internet, although most of these new oper-
ators are located abroad.
Accordingly, the Subcommittee considered means of curbing this
emerging problem, and in July 2000, then-Chairman Collins intro-
duced legislation designed to address the problem of counterfeit
identification documents. This legislation, the Internet False Iden-
tification Prevention Act of 2000 passed the Senate and the House
of Representatives and was signed into law on December 28, 2000.
This statute, Public Law 106–578, effected a number of changes in
current law, including: (1) establishing a multi-agency coordinating
committee charged with encouraging more enforcement of existing
criminal laws by dedicating investigative and prosecutorial re-
sources exclusively to this emerging problem; (2) modernizing sev-
eral portions of existing Federal law to ensure that it is suited to
the Internet age and the technology that is associated with it; and
(3) making it easier to prosecute those criminals who manufacture,
distribute, or sell counterfeit identification documents by closing
the legal loophole that had allowed them to use easily-removable
disclaimers in an attempt to shield their illegal conduct from pros-
ecution through a claim of ‘‘novelty.’’ Through aggressive law en-
forcement activity, and continued Congressional attention and
oversight, the Subcommittee hopes and anticipates that it will be
possible dramatically to decrease the number of crimes committed
using false documents.
I. Introduction
A. Summary of Investigation
The Subcommittee’s investigation was prompted in part by an e-
mail message received by a Subcommittee investigator that solic-
ited her to purchase counterfeit driver’s licenses.4 The Sub-
committee began investigating to determine the extent to which
false identification could be obtained via the Internet. Unfortu-
nately, it quickly became apparent that there are a myriad of
websites offering false identification materials.
From mid-December 1999 to mid-May 2000, the Subcommittee
discovered approximately 60 websites offering to manufacture and
sell false identification documents or to provide the means to man-
ufacture false identification documents. These sites were not hard
to find: the Subcommittee located them by using major search en-
4 This issue first came to the Subcommittee’s attention when Subcommittee Investigator
Eileen Fisher received an unsolicited e-mail message entitled, ‘‘Authentic Confidential ID’s!!’’
The e-mail message stated as follows:
‘‘Ever wanted a driver’s license that pases [sic] all the ‘‘tests’’? Now you can have a Driv-
er’s License from any State no questions asked! Former employees of the Department of
Motor Vehicles are now making Driver’s licenses exactly 100% like the ones the DMV
makes, complete with Holgrams [sic] and Magnetic Strips.’’
The message asked Investigator Fisher to send $15 in payment for the fake driver’s license.
See Hearing record, supra, at Exhibit 22. The individual responsible for this e-mail, Greg
Dodson, agreed to a consent judgment on May 19, 2000, in a lawsuit brought by ASD.com in
the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee. The terms of the consent judgment
require Dodson to pay statutory damages under the Tennessee anti-spamming statute of
$10,000 plus attorney’s fees.
6
gines, examining the links on websites, and reviewing messages

posted on several discussion boards. The websites primarily offered
to manufacture or provide information about State driver’s licenses,
with some operations offering to manufacture or provide informa-
tion about birth certificates, government identification cards, Social
Security cards, college transcripts, and other identification docu-
ments.
The Subcommittee then reviewed in great detail approximately
15 websites that offered false identification information. These
websites were selected based on the type and quality of documents
offered, the methods used to sell such documents, and the physical
location of website operations. As part of the Subcommittee’s re-
view, the Subcommittee placed orders under an assumed name to
seven websites for the false identification products that they of-
fered. The Subcommittee received materials from three of the
websites. A summary of these orders and results is provided in
Table 1:
Table 1—Orders of False Identification Materials
Company/Individual Product Ordered Cost Result
American Photo Company a .............. Georgia driver’s license $225 No product received.
with hologram.
NoveltyID4Ua ..................................... Social Security card ....... $58 No product received.
Mike Burton ...................................... Maine driver’s $75 No product received.b
license
The ID Shop/Robert Sek ................... Oklahoma driver’s $100 Received false identification card closely re-
license. sembling an Oklahoma driver’s license.
J&J Enterprises/Josh Dansereau ....... Connecticut driver’s li- $58 No product received.c
cense.
Bestfakeids/Tim Beachum ................ Novelty ID Kit $30 Downloaded files containing identification
documents.
Fakeid.net/Brett Carreras ................. Monthly access to pre- $12.95/ The Subcommittee had access for several
mium files. month months to these materials, which in-
cluded templates for 13 State driver’s li-
censes, the seal of the Department of
Health and Human Services (which is
used on a Social Security card), and a
template for a Canadian driver’s license.
a It appears that the same individual, John Carroll, operates both companies, and possibly several others including phonyid.com.
b When Subcommittee investigators contacted Burton, he admitted that he did not send the requested fake driver’s license because he was
attempting to defraud customers by taking their money without shipping the goods promised. Following the Subcommittee’s referral of this
case to the appropriate law enforcement authorities in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, Burton was charged with petty theft by fraud and fined ap-
proximately $200. He also disestablished a website he had operated offering instructions on how to alter a driver’s license, shredded his own
altered Wisconsin driver’s license at the direction of authorities, and returned $75 to the Subcommittee.
c Dansereau was arrested by Florida agents in November 1999. Nevertheless, the Subcommittee’s money order was deposited into his ac-
count in February 2000. In June 2000, Dansereau signed a notarized affidavit confirming his statement to the Subcommittee that since his
arrest he has returned all orders for false identification documents.
The identification materials the Subcommittee received took dif-

ferent forms. After the Subcommittee mailed to the operator of one
website a photograph representing a fictitious person with an ad-
dress in Oklahoma, asking that the false identification document
be delivered to an address in Maryland, the Subcommittee received
a high quality identification card 5 that closely resembled a driver’s
license of the State of Oklahoma. (This false identification docu-
ment is further described in Section III.A.(1).) The Subcommittee
used a credit card to purchase access to templates 6 and informa-
5 See
Hearing record, supra, at Exhibit 9 (false Oklahoma driver’s license).
6 Templates
are computer files that are frequently used to manufacture false identification
documents. See Section II.B.(1).
7
tion from two other websites that can be used to manufacture false
identification documents. These websites are described in Sections
III.A. (2) and (3) of this report. The Subcommittee also obtained
templates and other information on false identification from
websites that did not charge for their products.
The Subcommittee experienced difficulty in locating and obtain-
ing the cooperation of the operators of several of the websites
under review. As detailed in Section III.E.(2) of this report, many
of those responsible for these websites hid their associations with
the website or, when identified, were unwilling to provide verifiable
information to the Subcommittee. Some websites appear to be oper-
ated by individuals or companies located outside the United States,
making it difficult for the Subcommittee to compel the production
of information.
In the cases of several websites, the Subcommittee found the
sales of false identification materials to be significant, as illus-
trated in Table 2:
Table 2—Revenues/Orders of Websites Offering False Identification Materials

Est. Dates of Dates of Revenue/
Company/Individual Revenues Orders
Operation Order Information
The ID Shop/Robert Sek ................................................ 11/30/99–2/00 11/30/99–2/00 $1,000,000 a 21,000 a

fakeid.net/Brett Carreras .............................................. 7/28/98–present 10/18/98–12/22/ $8,239 b 621b
98
Bestfakeids/Tim Beachum ............................................ 3/17/99–5/00 c 3/17/99–3/24/00 $31,305 d 1,294 d
Infoworld/Jeremy Martinez ............................................ 10/99–5/00 c 1/1/99–3/30/00 $23,728 d 1,177 d
fakeidzone/Tim Catron .................................................. 10/98–2/00 11/99–1/00 $12,250 b 652 b
J&J Enterprises/Josh Dansereau ................................... 6/99–9/99 6/99–9/99 $3,000 d – 100 e
$250,000 a
a Estimates from law enforcement reports.

b Information provided by Verotel, the company recording billing information.
c Website was operational as of May 19, 2000. However, it appears to have been taken down at some point between the Subcommittee’s
hearing and the release of this report.
d Company-supplied information.
e Dansereau claimed that he manufactured about 100 false identification documents. Law enforcement officials believe Dansereau failed to
provide products to many customers.
B. Methods of Using the Internet to Find False Identification Ma-

terials
The Internet offers users an ever expanding multitude of infor-
mation.7 With over 35 million domain names registered as of June
4, 2001,8 the Internet provides users with an opportunity to find
information on virtually any subject. Individuals across the world
are using the Internet in ever increasing numbers, with one source
estimating the number of Internet users worldwide as 414 million
in 2000 and predicting an increase to 1.17 billion by the year
2005.9
The vast array of information sources on the Internet means that
most Internet users do not know the location of websites that may
contain information on a topic of interest to them.10 Internet users
7 The Internet is also called the World Wide Web, a term which is often shortened to simply
‘‘the Web.’’ It is a linked collection of electronic documents stored on computers called servers.
8 Netnames Int’l Ltd., Netnames (visited June 4, 2001) http://www.netnames.com.
9 Computer Industry Almanac, Internet Users/Wireless Users (visited June 4, 2001) http://
cyberatlas.internet.com.
10 Websites, or pages, are located by an ‘‘address’’ known as a domain name, an Internet Pro-
tocol (IP) address, or a Universal Resource Locator (URL). This address is sometimes called the
Continued
8
thus routinely search for information using ‘‘search engines,’’ 11 pro-

grams which automatically search large sections of the Internet in
order to provide the user with a list of websites likely to contain
information relevant to the user’s request. After the user has en-
tered one or more words describing the subject matter of interest,
these search engines use different techniques to identify websites
with a high probability of containing the requested information.
Search engines may identify relevant websites through comparison
of the user’s word description with terms on a website or with de-
scriptive terms, frequently called ‘‘keywords,’’ provided by the cre-
ator of the website in order to guide or attract users to the website.
Based on this comparison, search engines provide an Internet user
with a list of websites. This list is often arranged in order of likeli-
hood of containing relevant information, and may provide a short
description of the information included on each site. The search en-
gine results page displays the address of each page found as a re-
sult of the search, and allows the user to move directly to each site
with a simple click of the mouse.12 As the Subcommittee dem-
onstrated, these user-friendly and often very powerful search tech-
niques make it easy for Internet users to discover and access
websites offering a variety of false identification documents.
C. Earliest Websites Offering False Identification Information
The ever-changing nature of the Internet, and the fact that web
pages are often not preserved for later retrieval, prevent docu-
mentation by the Subcommittee of the earliest websites created
containing information about false identification materials. Website
‘‘domain names’’ are often sold or transferred to different individ-
uals or companies, and may be used for an entirely different pur-
pose at different times. The Subcommittee’s investigation was thus
unable to determine with great certainty which operators first used
the Internet to offer false identification information.
The earliest information about manufacturing false identification
appears to originate from three websites. A site named ‘‘Blur of In-
sanity,’’ which currently describes itself as ‘‘The #1 College Enter-
tainment Website,’’ 13 is mentioned on an Internet discussion
board 14 as having been one of the first sites to display identifica-
tion templates.15 According to other messages on a discussion
board,16 an individual using the name ‘‘Cycore’’ provided informa-
tion about false identification materials on a site offered on a web
page provided through America OnLine (AOL)—at least until that
company allegedly dismantled the site. A third site, ‘‘fake-id.com,’’
operated by John DeMayo, was registered with Network Solutions
name of the site, its address, or its location. Entering the URL of a web page through a web
browser or clicking on a link allows the user to access that page through its server.
11 A ‘‘search engine’’ is a web page that uses computer technology to find and display other
web pages relating to the information requested.
12 See e.g., Hearing record, supra, at Exhibit 28 (search results for term ‘‘fake ID’’ when using
Excite.com search engine, http://www.Excite.com).
13 See ‘‘Blur of Insanity,’’ (last visited Dec. 15, 2000), at http://www.blurofinsanity.com.
14 See ‘‘Fake ID Conversation,’’ http://www.carreras.net/discus (post by ‘‘Allfree’’ on Oct. 15,
1999).
15 A ‘‘template’’ is the term given to a document, often in the form of a computer file that is
able to be manipulated, and may contain both graphic images and text, and that closely resem-
bles the common features of an official identification document.
16 See ‘‘Fake ID Conversation,’’ http://www.carreras.net/discus (post by ‘‘Webhost’’ on Oct.
16, 1999).
9
on October 2, 1997. This site reportedly contained a variety of tem-

plates and information about the driver’s licenses of many different
States. Individuals obtaining these templates and information
about the formats of State driver’s licenses would then have the in-
gredients needed to manufacture false identification. Although the
Subcommittee was unable to obtain specific information about the
false identification information presented on these early websites,
it does appear that the use of the Internet to manufacture and
market counterfeit identification documents dates at least to the
mid-1990s.
D. Legal Framework
(1) Federal Legislative History
Almost 20 years ago, in the fall of 1982, the Subcommittee held
3 days of public hearings examining the use of counterfeit identity
documents to defraud Federal benefit programs.17 These hearings
came on the heels of a series of reports demonstrating the growing
problems caused by false identification. Following the hearings,
Congress enacted 18 U.S.C. §§ 1028 and 1738. These two laws are
the primary Federal statutes that relate to the availability of false
identification on the Internet. Section 1028 imposes penalties for
the production or use of false identification documents, as well as
for the possession of document making implements with the intent
to use them for an illegal purpose. Section 1738, which was re-
pealed in 2000, imposed a misdemeanor penalty for possessing cer-
tain identification documents that do not bear a specified dis-
claimer.
Section 1028 imposes felony sanctions of between 3 to 25 years
in jail, depending how the false identification document is used, for:
• the knowing, unauthorized production of an identifica-
tion document, or false identification document;
• the transfer of an identification document or false
identification document, knowing that it was stolen or
produced without lawful authority;
• the possession with intent to use unlawfully or to
transfer unlawfully five or more identification docu-
ments (other than those issued lawfully for the use of
the possessor) or false identification documents;
• the possession of an identification document (other
than one issued lawfully for the use of the possessor)
or a false identification document with the intent that
such document be used to defraud the United States;
• the possession, production, or transfer of a document-
making implement with the intent that the implement
be used in the production of a false identification docu-
ment or another document-making implement;
• the possession of an identification document that is or
appears to be an identification document of the United
17 See generally, Federal Identification Fraud: Hearings before the Permanent Subcommittee
on Investigations, Senate Committee on Governmental Affairs, 97th Congress, 2nd Session
(June 15–16, Sept. 23, 1982).
10
States, which is stolen or produced without lawful au-

thority, knowing that the document was stolen or that
its production was unauthorized; and
• the unauthorized transfer of a means of identification
of another person with the intent to commit, aid, or
abet any unlawful activity that violates Federal law or
is a felony under State law.
Section 1028 applies only where (1) the identification document or
false identification document is or appears to be issued by or under
the authority of the United States, or the document-making imple-
ment is designed or suited to making such an identification docu-
ment; (2) the offense involves the knowing possession of an identi-
fication document (other than one lawfully issued for the use of the
possessor) or a false identification document intended to be used to
defraud the United States; (3) the prohibited production, transfer,
possession or use is in or affects interstate or foreign commerce; or
(4) the means of identification, identification document, false iden-
tification document, or document-making implement is transported
in the mail.18
Section 1738 made it a misdemeanor punishable by up to 1 year
in jail for anyone in the business of furnishing identification docu-
ments, acting in furtherance of that business, to use the mails for
the
‘‘mailing, carriage in the mails, or delivery of, or [transpor-
tation] in interstate or foreign commerce, any identifica-
tion document * * * (1) which bears a birth date or age
purported to be that of the person named in such identi-
fication document; * * * (2) knowing that such document
fails to carry diagonally printed clearly and indelibly on
both the front and back ‘‘NOT A GOVERNMENT DOCU-
MENT’’ in capital letters in not less than 12-point type.’’ 19
An ‘‘identification document’’ is defined as ‘‘a document which is of
a type intended or commonly accepted for the purpose of identifica-
tion of individuals and which is not issued by or under the author-
ity of a government.’’ 20
(2) Loopholes Caused by Advances in Technology
The Subcommittee found that the substantial majority of false
identification prosecutions have been brought under § 1028, while
no prosecutions have been brought specifically under § 1738, per-
haps because § 1738 provided only for misdemeanor penalties.
Moreover, the Subcommittee’s review of the case law under § 1028
did not find any prosecutions involving the sale of false identifica-
tion documents over the Internet. Witness testimony at the Sub-
committee’s hearing indicated, however, that the number of crimes
committed involving false identification is growing, and that the
number of prosecutions has not kept pace. Not only did the statute
need updating, the Subcommittee concluded, but law enforcement’s
attention also needed to be refocused on this crime.
18 18 U.S.C. § 1028.
19 18 U.S.C. § 1738(a).
20 Id. at § 1738(b).
11
Under § 1028, the courts have looked to statutory language, past

decisions, and legislative history to determine the appropriate
scope of the terms ‘‘identification document’’ and ‘‘document-mak-
ing implement.’’ The cases indicate that the term ‘‘identification
document’’ applied to completed and blank birth certificates, driv-
er’s licenses, and Federal and State identification cards.21 The stat-
utory definition of a ‘‘document-making implement’’ included
‘‘any implement, impression, electronic device, or computer
hardware or software, that is specifically configured or pri-
marily used for making an identification document, a false
identification document, or another document-making im-
plement.’’ 22
The case law suggests that this language has been applied to a
wide range of materials outside the Internet context, but it is un-
clear whether the existing statutes would cover computer files or
false-identification software template files. Specifically, it was un-
clear whether templates, which are used in a large number of those
false identification documents transmitted over the Internet, con-
stitute a document or a document-making implement—or whether
they were covered at all under the original statutory definitions.
The Subcommittee concluded that new legislation was needed to
ensure that such computer technology is within the ambit of the
statute, particularly because it is the method of choice of today’s
false identification manufacturers.
The Subcommittee found that people producing false identifica-
tion cited the disclaimer language in § 1738 in claiming to be oper-
ating in compliance with the law. For example, Robert Sek of
‘‘theidshop’’ required that his customers sign an agreement not to
tamper with the product he sent them. He then mailed his cus-
tomers an identification card sealed in an easily-removable plastic
pouch that bore the requisite disclaimers. The identification card
inside the pouch bore merely a disclaimer in tiny print.23 Through
these means, Sek sought to insulate himself from liability by cre-
ating a product that appeared to comply with § 1738, but in fact
was easily alterable to circumvent the statute.
For these reasons, it was apparent following the Subcommittee
hearing that the statutory definitions of prohibited items needed to
be updated to cover today’s technology, and that law enforcement’s
attention need to be refocused on false identification crimes. Speak-
ing from his position as one on the front lines of the effort to curb
phony identification documents, for example, Lieutenant David C.
Myers, the Identification Fraud Coordinator for the State of Flor-
ida’s Division of Alcoholic Beverages and Tobacco, testified to the
difficulties he encountered, noting that false identification website
operators keep reappearing on the Internet, a problem he sus-
pected rises from loopholes in the current legal code.24 After hear-
ing this, Senator Collins noted:
21 See generally United States v. Alejandro, 118 F.3d 1518 (11th Cir. 1997); United States v.
Rohn, 964 F.2d 310 (4th Cir. 1992).
22 18 U.S.C. § 1028(d)(1).
23 See Hearing record, supra, at Exhibit 10 (Fake ID Man Message Board http://
pages.eidosnet.co.uk/fakeidman/ (post by ‘‘Mexican311’’ on Mar. 17, 2000)). This post details
the ease with which the disclaimer on the identification card may be removed.
24 Id. at 22 (testimony of Lieutenant Myers).
12
‘‘I am more convinced than ever that we need a crack-

down by all levels of law enforcement on this area and
that we need to evaluate very closely whether Federal law
and penalties are sufficient to deter the proliferation of
these websites.’’ 25
(3) Internet False Identification Prevention Act of 2000
On July 26, 2000, Senator Collins introduced S. 2924, the Inter-
net False Identification Prevention Act of 2000, in an effort to curb
the proliferation of websites that distribute counterfeit identifica-
tion documents and credentials over the Internet. The bill was in-
tended to accomplish this by promoting a coordinated effort to im-
prove the Federal Government’s ability to stem the use of false
identification documents, creating a law enforcement coordinating
committee to focus on false identification, updating existing law to
reflect technological advances, and encouraging law enforcement to
prosecute this serious and growing problem. On December 15,
2000, after incorporating several minor modifications to the version
that had previously passed the Senate, the U.S. House of Rep-
resentatives passed the Internet False Identification Prevention
Act of 2000. Thereafter signed by the President, this bill became
Public Law 106–578 on December 28, 2000. It entered into effect
on March 28, 2001.
Among its provisions, the new law authorizes a multi-agency co-
ordinating committee to investigate and prosecute the manufacture
and distribution of false identification documents. The coordinating
committee includes representatives from the Treasury Department,
the Justice Department, the U.S. Secret Service, the FBI, the So-
cial Security Administration, and the Immigration and Naturaliza-
tion Service (INS). This coordinating committee is expected to oper-
ate like the Office of Internet Enforcement at the Securities and
Exchange Commission (SEC), except that it would file criminal
rather than civil actions and would be a multi-agency organization.
This coordinating committee shall exist for at least 2 years, with
the President having the authority to continue it for such addi-
tional time as may be deemed necessary. At the end of each year
of the coordinating committee’s existence, the Attorney General
and Secretary of the Treasury shall report to the House and Senate
Judiciary Committees on the investigation and prosecution of
crimes involving false identification, and make recommendations
for more effective investigation and prosecution.
Second, the new law was designed to amend § 1028 in order to
bring this primary law on false identification in line with current
technology in several ways. The legislation modifies the existing
definition of ‘‘document-making implement,’’ for example, to include
computer templates and files that are now frequently used to cre-
ate counterfeit identification documents from the Internet.
Third, the new law aims to close a loophole which allowed a per-
son to transfer (e.g., through a website or e-mail), either false iden-
tification software templates or actual finished documents. The
law’s new provision thus expands the definition of ‘‘transfer’’ to in-
clude selecting, placing, or directing the placement of an identifica-
25 Id. at 30 (remarks of Senator Collins).
13
tion document, false identification document, or document-making

implement in an online location where it is available to others.
This should ensure that offering a false identification document or
template for download on a website is considered an illegal act.
Fourth, the new law repeals § 1738, thus ending individuals’ abil-
ity to use alterable disclaimers in legally producing identification
documents that include the age or birth date of an individual. The
effect of repeal of § 1738 is that it will no longer be legal to manu-
facture and sell false identification products even if they display
the previously-required ‘‘NOT A GOVERNMENT DOCUMENT’’
disclaimer. As the Subcommittee’s hearing revealed, this type of
disclaimer can be fashioned so as to be easily removable on both
computer templates and counterfeit identification documents. It is
now illegal to produce, possess, or sell any identification document
that resembles an identification document issued by any govern-
ment entity; any such activity will be a felony.
It is the Subcommittee’s hope that this new law will also focus
attention on the growing problem of Internet-facilitated false iden-
tification. This alone may help rein in the more visible operators,
for shedding light on this industry does appear to be at least a tem-
porary deterrent. Lieutenant Myers testified at the hearing, for ex-
ample, that:
‘‘Probably the biggest impact that we have had on the
Internet as I monitor it and have for many years is the
work done by your own Subcommittee’s investigators. They
had a dramatic impact on those on the Internet. Not even
knowing their investigation was going on, I could see that
the activity on the Internet as it related to false ID was
going through some changes.’’ 26
The Subcommittee hopes that the combination of its work on the
subject and the legislation to curb the manufacture and distribu-
tion of false identification documents over the Internet, along with
renewed attention from law enforcement will decrease the number
of crimes committed using the false documents.
II. The Subcommittee Investigation
A. Methods Of Providing False Identification Materials By Inter-
net Sites
The Subcommittee’s investigation found two primary methods by
which the operators of websites provide false identification mate-
rials: some simply provide their customers with the tools they need
to produce their own false identification. These products are gen-
erally mailed in disk form to the customer, or more frequently,
transmitted via the Internet, or available for downloading. Other
website operators produce a completed false identification docu-
ment for their customers themselves, which they deliver to the cus-
tomer through the mail.
26 Id. at 21–22 (testimony of Lieutenant Myers).
14
(1) Some Websites Offer False Identification Information and

Tools
Some website operators offer to mail customers a disk containing
computer files. The operator of fakeidzone.com, Tim Catron, used
the following language to promote his products:
‘‘Our novelty id kit’s allows anyone to make a new identity.
Maybe you would like to be able to spot fake id’s [sic] for
your job, or you need a new novelty birth certificate, or
maybe you want to make some money selling novelty id’s.
Everything you need is right here! You will get full in-
structions with details on how to use your kit—as well as
hundreds of templates, and tech support if needed.’’ 27
These website operators usually require payment by mail and pro-
vide the disk via return mail. Such sites are frequently unable or
unwilling to use a third party for billing, and customers using such
sites may not have credit cards or prefer to send their payment
using untraceable methods such as cash or money order.
The operator of the website fakeid.net, Brett Carreras, promoted
his site as ‘‘[t]he world’s first and finest site devoted solely to fake
ID information.’’ This website contained free information such as
State seals, coded numeric information on State issued identifica-
tion, and templates that would assist an individual to create false
identification. Fakeid.net also sold membership access to ‘‘pre-
mium’’ files containing high quality templates of State driver’s li-
censes. Website operators offer files for the customer to download,
maintain accounts with credit card or billing companies, and cus-
tomers charge their purchase to a credit card, pay by telecheck, or
pay through their telephone bill. Once the billing company has con-
firmed the purchase, an authorization code is provided to the cus-
tomer for access to the files containing the information about false
identification documents.
Other websites offer, without charge, files available for down-
loading that contain false identification materials. For example,
one website operator promoted the products offered with the fol-
lowing statement: ‘‘Welcome to the Fake ID Archive! Here you will
find everything you will need to make your own Fake ID.’’ 28 The
Fake ID archive’s product list included high quality, layered tem-
plates that customers could use to manufacture false identification.
While the operators of these websites appear to be offering their
products for free, their sites may generate income by linking to
other web pages whose owners pay a fee for directing potential cus-
tomers to them.
(2) Some Websites Offer to Manufacture False Identification
Some websites offer to make identification documents for cus-
tomers. The operator of theidshop.com, Robert Sek, offered to pro-
vide customers with PVC plastic identification cards 29 that closely
resembled State driver’s licenses. The Subcommittee purchased a
27 See Hearing record, supra, at Exhibit 32b (Tim Catron, Fake ID Zone (visited Jan. 3, 2000)
http://www.digitalhideout.com/idkit.html) (original punctuation and spelling preserved).
28 Fake ID Archive (visited Apr. 21, 2000) http://www.fakeids.cjb.net.
29 Polyvinylchloride, commonly known as PVC, is a widely used type of plastic. PVC is fre-
quently used to make cards such as identification badges and credit cards.
15
phony Oklahoma driver’s license from Sek, and found that the
identification was high quality, and closely replicated a bona fide
Oklahoma driver’s license. The Subcommittee’s purchase is detailed
in Section III.A.(1). Sek’s web page described his products as fol-
lows:
‘‘The ID Shop is proud to be the first Id website to ever
offer PVC plastic holographic ID’s. These are the highest
quality novelty ID’s money can buy. They also come with
many added security options such as holograms.’’ 30
The operator of fakeids.org, Josh Dansereau, similarly promoted
his products as follows:
All of are ID’s are the new plastic credit card style, they
come with a working magnetic strip at no extra charge. No
one will question these Ids, even put to the book test * * *
they pass. We get e-mails everyday about how great they
work. Our Ids are made to very strict standards, you will
be completely satisfied.31
These websites ask the customer to send the information that he
or she wants on the identification document along with a picture,
signature, and payment. The operator of the website manufactures
the new identification, makes no attempt to verify that the infor-
mation is true, and sends the customer the false identification doc-
ument via return mail.32
B. Types of False Identification Materials Available on the
Internet
(1) Templates and Other Tools
Some websites offer template and other tools that aid individuals
in the manufacture of false identification documents. Templates are
computer files that are frequently used to manufacture false identi-
fication documents. Templates are typically layered graphic files
that can be manipulated to hide and reveal images and text.
Layering a template enables the customer to replicate closely a fea-
ture on a State driver’s license, such as a signature or seal, that
appears to cover a portion of a picture, as each layer contains a
portion of the entire image, such as the seal or signature. Individ-
uals can also add images and text such as photographs or signa-
tures to templates in order to customize them. To make a driver’s
license, for example, an individual would insert a scanned photo-
graph and signature, and type in the correct name and address.
Then the individual would print the document and laminate it. Be-
cause templates are merely electronic code indicating the graphic
patterns of the desired document, one template can effectively be
used an infinite number of times, by an infinite number of individ-
30 See Hearing record, supra, at Exhibit 31 (Robert Sek, PVC Plastic Id’s (visited Jan. 27,
2000) http://www.theidshop.com).
31 Josh Dansereau, Gallery (visited Nov. 9, 1999) http://www.fakeid1.com/gallery.htm
(original punctuation and spelling preserved).
32 Identification documents are sent by return mail, at least, when the operator of the website
is not simply defrauding customers of their money by providing no product whatsoever. As noted
in Table 1, for example, the website operated by Mike Burton was designed to elicit orders for
false identification products that Burton never intended to provide. Such activity is not a false
identification crime, but instead constitutes simple fraud.
16
uals, and can be transmitted easily via computer disk, or virtually

instantaneously over telephone lines via the Internet.
In the case of the older versions of the Maine driver’s license, for
example, both the State seal and the signature of the Secretary of
State overlap the picture of the license holder. This is a security
feature that helps prevent the physical alteration of an actual li-
cense by the simple expedient of replacing the original picture,
since such tampering would cover a portion of the seal and signa-
ture. A layered computer template allows a new picture to be in-
serted ‘‘under’’ the seal and signature so that it duplicates an offi-
cial license. A simple ‘‘mouse click’’ in the program deletes the seal
and signature block. After the user inserts the desired picture, the
seal and signature block are simply reapplied as a layer above the
picture.33 In this manner, users are able to defeat many of the se-
curity features that authorities have put in place.
With sophisticated templates and printers available, it is within
the reach of a growing number of people to produce false identifica-
tion and credentials. As Senator Collins noted in her opening state-
ment at the Subcommittee hearing:
‘‘These counterfeit documents are relatively easy to manu-
facture. With only a modest understanding of the Internet
and $50 worth of supplies purchased from an arts and
crafts store, one can design authentic-looking identification
documents within a few hours or even minutes.’’ 34
Some websites offer other security features or devices that, when
added to a template, result in a more realistic identification docu-
ment. Websites provide bar codes, or computer programs that gen-
erate a bar code, which may then be used as part of a counterfeit
driver’s license. Lieutenant Myers noted in his testimony at the
hearing that website operators are keeping pace with the security
features that States have been adding to their identification docu-
ments. ‘‘Things like bar codes and even two-dimensional bar codes
that some States are going to,’’ he noted, ‘‘are easily generated off
the Internet. There are several sites that assist you in generating
these security features.’’ 35 Other websites reproduce the seal or
flag used by States on their driver’s licenses.36
Other websites provide a computer program that enables the
user to generate a realistic driver’s license number. Many States
use special coding in their driver’s license numbers, allowing
verification of the license by matching the driver’s license number
with certain characteristics of the owner. For example, the first let-
ter of the driver’s license number may correspond to the first letter
of the owner’s last name. Other digits may correspond to the month
and year of birth, sex, or eye color. These websites offer a program
33 See Hearing record, supra, at Exhibits 4 and 5. Exhibits 4 and 5 show, respectively, a tem-
plate for a Maine driver’s license without a photo in the photo layer, and a template for a Maine
driver’s license with a photo in the photo layer.
34 Hearing record at 2 (remarks of Senator Collins).
35 Id. at 20–21 (testimony of Lieutenant Myers); see also, e.g., Jeremy Martinez, New Identity
Kit (visited Dec. 10, 1999) http://www.newid.ultramailweb.com.

36 See e.g., Brett Carreras, Fake ID.Net (visited May 12, 2000) http://www.fakeid.net.
17
that replicates a driver’s license number that corresponds to the

code of the State selected for a phony driver’s license.37
Other websites offer Social Security number generators or ex-
plain the method used by the Social Security Administration in
issuing actual Social Security numbers. This numerical coding, cor-
responding to the State and year of birth, provides another method
to verify the apparent identity of an individual. Such information,
when available and used by those manufacturing false identifica-
tion documents, can be used to create a Social Security number
that appears to match a counterfeit identity.38
(2) False Identification Documents
(a) State Driver’s Licenses and Identification Cards
The Subcommittee found that many websites offer to manufac-
ture, or provide information that would allow the customer to man-
ufacture, a document that would closely replicate the driver’s li-
censes of various States. Most such websites are illustrated by pic-
tures of the products that they offer,39 usually images of State driv-
er’s licenses. These images often include the picture of an indi-
vidual or appear to be actual licenses, with either the picture or
name of the individual removed. In other instances, the images
shown are copied from samples appearing in a book published for
law enforcement and private sector businesses that describes the
features of State driver’s licenses and identification cards.
The Subcommittee’s investigation found that the quality of the
materials manufactured or offered by each website varied consider-
ably. Some websites produced documents that closely replicated the
driver’s license of a State in graphic images, size, shape, format,
color, typeface, and placement of features such as State seals and
signatures, while others clearly bore little resemblance to the gen-
uine article. Lieutenant Myers noted in his testimony that phony
identification documents are available via the Internet for all 50
U.S. States and many government agencies.40 Websites manufac-
turing high quality identification documents frequently attempt to
duplicate security features such as ‘‘ghost’’ pictures, holograms, and
bar codes or magnetic stripes. These security features are very val-
uable to manufacturers, as they contribute to the realistic look of
the counterfeit document.
As Lieutenant Myers testified at the hearing, these security fea-
tures now pose little difficulty to counterfeiters:
‘‘Some of the features on the license * * * such as the what
we call a ghost image picture, those were very, very dif-
ficult to reproduce in years past due to the technology that
we had at that time. Now it is very simple.’’ 41
In fact, Lieutenant Myers added, ‘‘our [law enforcement] training
programs have to be updated virtually every month to come up
37 See e.g., Tim Catron, Fake ID Zone http:www.digitalhideout.com/idkit.html; Jeremy
Martinez, New Identity Kit http://internetwebhosting.com/newid/iddownload; Novelty Fake
ID Info CD (item 286156827) http://www.ebay.com.
38 See e.g., Jeremy Martinez, New Identity Kit (visited Dec. 10, 1999) http://www.
newid.ultramailweb.com.
39 See, e.g., Hearing record at Exhibit 31.
40 Hearing record, supra, at 13 (testimony of Lieutenant Myers).
41 Id. at 20 (testimony of Lieutenant Myers).
18
with new technologies that are being used.’’ 42 No longer are indi-
viduals who devote many hours of study and practice the only ones
able to reproduce these once effective security features. Senator
Collins observed during the hearing that
‘‘Many States, such as Connecticut, have added * * * secu-
rity features * * * for example, one of the security features
is the shadow picture and the bar code. But my staff was
able to replicate that in a way that makes it virtually in-
distinguishable from a real Connecticut license.’’ 43
Some websites also offer documents that closely resemble a State
driver’s license, but are missing one or more security features.
Such documents are still quite effective for commercial activities
and also might be used to obtain other authentic documents, be-
cause only trained personnel are likely to notice the subtle dif-
ferences. Trent Sands, author of the book, Fake ID by Mail and
Modem, advises his readers to capitalize on this lack of training:
‘‘Mail order documents can be used effectively in situations
where the ID cannot be verified by the person you are pre-
senting it to. Consider the case of where an individual
wants to open a bank account * * *. The bank clerk will
accept the document without any problem if it looks
real.’’ 44
Moreover, there are a multitude of State identification cards in
circulation, employing a wide variety of security features. This is
a serious problem about which Lieutenant Myers testified at the
hearing, noting that
‘‘there are over 200 active State identification cards and
driver’s licenses due to the fact that most States have an
ID card and driver’s license and have valid older formats
also. So in order for a law enforcement person to be able
to recognize all these features in areas like Florida, where
we have a lot of out-of-State people, it is almost impossible
to have everyone at the expert status in order to identify
all these types of legal identification.’’ 45
(b) Other Identity Documents
Some websites actually offer to manufacture a counterfeit Social
Security card. The card issued by the Social Security Administra-
tion is not intended to be an identification document, and thus con-
tains only an individual’s name and Social Security number. Older
Social Security cards feature no real security features, although re-
cently issued cards are more resistant to forgery.46 The Sub-
committee also found a wide range of other identity documents
available from websites, such as press credentials, a travel agent
42 Id.at 21 (testimony of Lieutenant Myers).
43 Id.at 20 (remarks of Senator Collins).
44 Trent Sands, Fake ID by Mail and Modem, at 23 (2000).
46 Chris Hibbert, What to do When They Ask for Your Social Security Number (Apr. 5, 1997)
http://www.faqs.org/ (Internet FAQ Consortium, Internet FAQ Archives, Usenet FAQs, File-
name privacy/ssn-faq).
19
card, a tax exempt card, a gun owner’s permit, and a resident ac-
tivity coordinator certificate.
Even more alarming is the availability online of government
agency credentials. Lieutenant Myers noted that most law enforce-
ment credentials are ‘‘much easier to copy and counterfeit than
driver’s licenses.’’ Unlike driver’s licenses, most law enforcement
credentials are ‘‘merely a picture stuck on a card and laminated.’’ 47
The Subcommittee learned that in general, law enforcement cre-
dentials frequently use fewer security features than do State driv-
er’s licenses.
Several investigations have shown the ease with which such
technology can be used to gain unauthorized access to a variety of
sensitive areas. This problem was highlighted at a House Judiciary
Subcommittee hearing held on May 25, 2000,48 for example, which
detailed how investigators from the U.S. General Accounting Office
(GAO) Office of Special Investigations (OSI) used credentials they
had made using the method described above by Lieutenant Myers
to gain easy access to 19 secure Federal sites and 2 commercial air-
ports.49 In a similar operation at certain sensitive Defense Depart-
ment facilities in May 2001 commissioned by Senator Collins, GAO/
OSI investigators penetrated the sites using easily-obtainable false
identification—thus demonstrating their potentially catastrophic
vulnerability to unauthorized access by criminals or terrorists.50
GAO’s findings in these multiple penetration tests demonstrate
that, in addition to the lax security measures in place at Federal
facilities and airports, the Internet and computer technology allow
nearly anyone easily to create convincing identification cards and
credentials.
Various reviews of the security of identification documents have
long noted the problems caused by the variety of different identi-
fication documents used in the United States. Reverend Theodore
Hesburgh, past chairman of the Select Commission on Immigration
and Refuge Policy, once described the United States as a ‘‘docu-
ment forgers’’ paradise.’’ 51 According to one 1989 estimate, basic
civil documents are issued by over 7,000 jurisdictions:
‘‘The lack of uniformity, uneven quality, and relaxed rules
of issuance of many of these documents guarantees wide-
spread abuse. Falsified or stolen vital statistics records be-
come ‘‘breeder documents’’ for a chain of false documents
that open the doors to highly prized entitlements—legal
resident status for illegal aliens, social security, food
stamps, unemployment compensation, and guaranteed stu-
dent loans.’’ 52
47 Hearing record, supra, at 13 and 22 (testimony of Lieutenant Myers).
48 See generally, Breaches of Security at Federal Agencies and Airports: Hearings before the
Subcommittee on Crime, House Committee on The Judiciary, 106th Cong., 2nd Sess. (May 25,
2000).
49 See U.S. General Accounting Office, Security: Breaches at Federal Agencies and Airports,
GAO/T–OSI–00–10 (May 25, 2000) (statement of Robert H. Hast) [hereinafter ‘‘Hast statement’’].
50 This investigation demonstrated such a serious security vulnerability that the Defense De-
partment classified the previously-unclassified GAO report at the SECRET level in the wake
of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks upon New York City and Washington, D.C. For this
reason, it is not possible to provide any more details of the operation here.
51 David Simcox, Secure Information: The Weak Link in Immigration Control (May 1989)
http://www.npg.org/forms/secure—id.htm (quoting Rev. Theodore Hesburgh).
52 Id.
20
(c) ‘‘Breeder’’ Documents

The Subcommittee found various Internet sites that offer a vari-
ety of other types of identification documents or information that
could be used to create other false identification documents. Sev-
eral websites offer to provide false birth certificates, for example,
which can be then completed to create a new identity or be used
for identity theft. Sands cautioned his readers in Fake ID by Mail
and Modem,
‘‘The smart use of a fake ID is as a stepping stone to a new
identity with REAL documents. It may be necessary to use
high quality fake ID in the interim to rent a mailing ad-
dress or open a bank account, but the final goal should be
to dispense with the fake ID as soon as possible.’’ 53
Birth certificates, when accepted as authentic, can thus be what
are called ‘‘breeder’’ documents,54 allowing the individual who cre-
ates a false birth certificate to obtain authentic identification docu-
ments from an authorized government agency. In one case re-
viewed by the Subcommittee, which is explained in further detail
in Section III.B.(1), Thomas Seitz obtained a blank birth certificate
from a website, completed the birth certificate with the biographi-
cal information of another person, and used it to obtain a valid
identification card from the State of New Jersey. Seitz explained
his reasons at the Subcommittee hearing:
‘‘[T]he birth certificate is sort of the key. That is the pre-
ferred document of identity that most agencies, DMV and
other government agencies, like to see. That, coupled with
a second form, the W–2, enabled me to go to the New Jer-
sey Department of Motor Vehicles and present those docu-
ments and they would, in turn give me the top document
there, which is a genuine photo identification card.’’ 55
The Subcommittee found a number of templates for documents
that are not typically issued by government organizations. These
supporting identification documents, while not as universally ac-
cepted as a driver’s license or birth certificate, allow individuals to
obtain other legitimate identification documents. For example, an
individual could use a false press pass or travel agent card to ob-
tain a legitimate library card or account with a telephone company
bearing the desired false identification. With those cards and ac-
count information, or the names and addresses that appear on
bills, the individual could then obtain other more universally ac-
cepted forms of identification.
C. Marketing Practices
(1) Message Boards and Chat Rooms
Websites that offer false identification materials or documents
market their products in a variety of ways. Some appeal to those
seeking to change their identity. For example, the home page of
53 Sands, supra, at 5.
54 A breeder document is a document that can be used to obtain other valid forms of identifica-
tion.
55 Hearing record, supra, at 18 (testimony of Thomas W. Seitz); see also id. at Exhibit 12
(Seitz’s fake birth certificate, W–2 form, and New Jersey identification card).
21
photoidcards.com offers customers the opportunity to ‘‘[d]isappear

completely and start a new life!’’ Some sites tout the ability of the
customer, using the materials supplied by the company, to create
a wide variety of false identification materials. The site
fakeidzone.com markets products to younger age groups, offering
not only driver’s licenses that would allow a juvenile to purchase
alcohol, but also college transcripts and college diplomas.56
Internet discussion boards are a free and easy means of adver-
tising both products and websites. A posting to the newsgroup
‘‘alt.2600.fake-id’’ by an operator of phonyid.com, referring to him-
self as ‘‘Cybersario,’’ stated as follows:
‘‘Don’t get ripped off ordering from those scam sites on the
net, order from the company that has been selling online
since 1994. Phonyid.Com has been featured in everything
from High Times to ABC News. We supply the highest
quality ids and we are the only site which offers actual
State holograms. Before you purchase a fake id do a little
research and you will find that Phonyid.Com is the most
trustworthy supplier of fake ids on the net.’’ 57
The Subcommittee’s investigation indicated that the operators of
Phonyid.com posted as many as 600 messages on a variety of topics
on news group message boards.58 Messages posted on discussion
boards reach large numbers of people quickly at minimal or no cost
to the individual posting the message. Moreover, they target the
desired audience of people who are Internet and computer savvy,
and who may be interested in purchasing products online, or in
using computer files such as templates.
Most of the individuals posting comments on the discussion
boards sign their messages ‘‘anonymous’’ or make use of obvious
pseudonyms. This allows individuals who sell false identification
products to post messages purporting to be from their own ‘‘satis-
fied customers.’’ Again using the ‘‘Cybersario’’ pseudonym, for ex-
ample, the operators of Phonyid.com posted a number of messages
in an attempt to assure potential buyers of their site’s authenticity.
In one instance, they posted a message saying ‘‘http//www/
phonyid.com. The ids cost about $200.00 but they are realistic.’’ 59
In another case, a posted message read:
‘‘Phonyid.com has really good ids. I use them when I need
to pick up something when I am carding....has worked
everytime [sic] so far. I think the price is high but what
i use them for it doesn’t really matter, i am getting rich
anyway.’’ 60
In a third instance, a message was posted saying:
56 See Hearing record, supra, at Exhibit 6 (Tim Catron, Fake ID Zone http://
www.digitalhideout.com/idkit.html).
57 Forum alt.2600.fake-id http://www.deja.com/group/alt.2600.fake-id (post by ‘‘Cybersario’’
on Dec. 15, 1999). This individual presented him/herself as a Phonyid.com customer.
58 See Domain Watch (visited Dec. 17, 1999) http://www.domainwatch.com (posting history
for [email protected]).
59 Forum alt.2600.fake-id http://www.deja.com/group/alt.private.investigator (post by
‘‘Cybersario’’ on Aug. 25, 1999)
60 Forum alt.2600.fake-id http://www.deja.com/group/alt.2600.fake-id (post by ‘‘Cybersario’’
on Nov. 30, 1999).
22
‘‘This site has the best id cards. Just got my id with

hologram and it is the [deleted]. Cards only $150.00 but
the hologram makes it worth it. I back these guys
100%.’’ 61
Using similar tactics, an individual styling himself ‘‘IMO’’ posted
comments about several of the websites that had recently closed,
again, possibly in an effort to boost the legitimacy of the sites:
‘‘Perhaps you people are unaware but all the major id sites
have had their offices raid [sic] within the past few
months. I would hold off on ordering for a little while, be-
cause the site you order from might be the next one bust-
ed. It started with Noveltyid4u.com, they got busted about
21⁄2 months ago when the secret service raided them for
making false government documents. Phonyid.com got
busted about 2 months ago for making counterfeit driver’s
licenses and passports.’’ 62
The Subcommittee believes that the individual or group of individ-
uals responsible for the above series of postings are the operators
of the website. Furthermore, the Subcommittee placed orders with
two websites, American Photo Company and Noveltyid4u.com, that
the Subcommittee now believes were operated by a small group of
individuals and may have been wholly fraudulent. The Sub-
committee never received any product in return for the $283 it sent
these two websites, nor, it suspects, did many other of these sites’
would-be customers.
(2) Deceptive Practices
Website operators frequently use deceptive advertising to entice
potential customers. Some make claims about the credentials of
their employees, while others tout features of their cards that are
likely to be untrue. Experience at a State department of motor ve-
hicles (DMV) is one of the main lures the website operators employ.
For example, photoidcards.com, a company based in Canada,
claims that ‘‘all id cards are professionally designed by an ex-DMV
staff,’’ and that photoidcards.com has ‘‘25 years of experience work-
ing with DMV offices worldwide.’’ 63 In fact, photoidcards.com in-
cludes commentary from the aforementioned alleged ‘‘former DMV’’
employee, who says of the photoidcards.com products that ‘‘the fin-
ish and design of virtually every aspect is outstanding.’’ 64 Website
operators tout the services of ‘‘former DMV’’ staff to attract cus-
tomers, since many of the security features of State issued driver’s
licenses and the methods of making them are known only to DMV
employees.
Website operators also claim that their products have certain
hard-to-duplicate security features that are in high demand and
lend authenticity to the counterfeit documents. For example, many
websites boast that their fraudulent identification documents bear
61 Id.
(Post by ‘‘Cybersario’’ on Jan. 5, 2000).
62 Fakeidman’s Discussion Forum http://network54.com/Hide?Forum (re-post entitled ‘‘You
were not scammed, THEY WERE BUSTED!!,’’ posted on Apr. 3, 2000).
63 Loren Marceau, Home Page (visited Dec. 12, 2000) http://www.photoidcards.com.
64 Loren Marceau, Frequently Asked Questions (visited Feb. 4, 2000)
www.photoidcards.com/faq.html.
23
holograms, working magnetic strips, and markings that appear

under ultra violet light. Josh Dansereau of Fakeids.org, for exam-
ple, promoted his products by stating on his home page that ‘‘all
id’s are digital id cards* with working mag stripes that really
scan.’’ 65 In his ‘‘Frequently Asked Questions’’ section, however,
Dansereau admitted that the magnetic strips are not functional:
‘‘Do you have the credit card type of id with the magnetic stripe
on the back? Yes, our ID’s are the credit card style. The magnetic
stripe on the back is for looks only, it does not really scan, it just
makes the id more realistic.’’ 66 Many States now encode a mag-
netic strip on the back of their driver’s licenses with an individual’s
biographical information. This is of only limited utility, however, as
most bars, banks and retail stores do not possess the equipment to
test the authenticity of the magnetic strip on an identification
card—and thus to tell a false identification with a non-functional
strip from a real one.
Another prized security feature is the hologram. IDnow.com, for
example, states that ‘‘the holograms we use are DMV issued mean-
ing they will match exactly with an original ID.’’ 67 Theidshop.com
notes in the description of its PVC plastic identification documents:
‘‘The ID Shop is proud to be the first ID website to ever
offer PVC plastic holographic ID’s. These ID’s are the high-
est quality novelty ID’s money can buy. They also come
with many added security options such as holograms.’’ 68
The difficult nature of obtaining realistic holograms is dem-
onstrated by the high volume of postings on message boards con-
cerning holograms. Most of these postings focus upon how to craft
them or obtain them. Moreover, instructions on how to make a
hologram are also frequently included on the identification kits
that are marketed by many websites. (These instructions offer ad-
vice on what sort of reflective gold paint to buy, and how to craft
stencils. Some suggest using gold eye shadow.)
Another deceptive marketing technique frequently employed by
false identification website operators is to urge potential customers
to order before the website is closed down by authorities—thus
building market appeal upon the suggestion that the documents
provided are so realistic that the site is operating illegally. In the
advertising copy designed to promote his ‘‘New Identity Kit,’’ for ex-
ample, Jeremy Martinez stated that ‘‘We are revealing the secrets
that they don’t want you to know. Order now, before we are shut
down by authorities.’’ 69 Martinez offered products titled, ‘‘99 Ways
to Disappear,’’ and ‘‘Better Ways to Disappear.’’ 70 Promaster
Cards, a website based in the United Kingdom, similarly boasts
about the illegality of its products, noting that ‘‘we continue to be
a major headache to several DMV and Law Enforcement Agencies
65 See Hearing record, supra, at Exhibit 30 (Josh Dansereau, Home Page (visited Jan. 3, 2000)
http://www.freehosting2.at.webjump.com/413a62646/fa/fakeids-org/gallery.htm).
66 Josh Dansereau, Frequently Asked Questions (visited Jan. 27, 2000) http://
www.freehosting2.at.webjump.com/413a62646/fa/fakeids-org/faqhelp.htm.
67 Welcome to Idnow.com (visited Jan. 3, 2000) http://www.idnow.com/faq.html.
68 See Hearing record, Exhibit 31.
69 Jeremy Martinez, New Identity Kit (visited Jan. 20, 2000) www.vsub.com/newid./htm.
Martinez ultimately was shut down by the authorities.
70 Id.
24
from around the world.’’ 71 Promaster Cards also states that ‘‘we
have been shut down several times by the FBI and Treasury De-
partment under various forgery acts of US law.’’ 72 Finally, the
website boldly adds,
‘‘We are openly admitting that we are breaking State, Fed-
eral and several European law [sic] by providing ID that
are exact replicas in every detail of the current IDs pro-
vided from the countries in our list.’’ 73
Statements of this type are obviously designed to entice people into
buying products that appear so real that they are outlawed.74 This,
they clearly feel, is precisely what their customers seek.
(3) Search Engine Placement and Keywords
Many websites operators rely on the skillful use of keywords to
place their websites high on search engine results lists. High
search engine placement results in more visitors and, therefore,
more customers. In his written response to a Subcommittee ques-
tionnaire, Jeremy Martinez explained the importance of using key-
words effectively:
‘‘Since I am good at web promotion in the search engines,
I am able to obtain prime spots in search engines, whereby
surfers find me first and purchase from me instead of
downloading [templates], from the free sites.’’ 75
Tim Beachum, operator of bestfakeids.com, reinforced this point
during his Subcommittee deposition, noting that keywords affect
‘‘relevancy and a search engine ranking.’’ 76 When asked which key-
words he uses to market his site, Beachum suggested that he had
found the words ‘‘Novelty Ids, Ids, Ids spelled with different cases,
apostrophe-S, without the apostrophe-S, noveltyfakeIDs as one
word, hyphenated, press pass’’ to be high-return keywords.
71 Promaster Cards (visited Dec. 20, 1999) http://members.xoom.it/—XOOM/driverid/
page2.html.
72 Id.
73 See Hearing record, supra, at Exhibit 13 (About Promastercard (visited Dec. 20, 1999) http:/
/members.xooPromasm.it/—XOOM/driverid/index.html).
74 On bestfakeids.com/splash/splash.html, Tim Beachum also used the ploy that the prod-
uct price will soon rise: ‘‘The street price on our novelty fake id kit is $99.00, we sell the same
kit online at a discount price of $39.97. If you order our kit before midnight [of a specific date]
you only pay $29.97.’’ The end-of-sale date changes automatically every day so that no matter
when a would-be customer sees the site, the promotion will always appear to be nearly over.
75 Hearing record, supra, at Exhibit 17 (Martinez questionnaire response, at 3 (Mar. 30,
2000)). See Federal Trade Commission v. Jeremy Martinez, individually and d/b/a Info World,
Case No. 00–12701, Complaint for Injunctive and Other Relief (U.S. District Court for the Cen-
tral District of California, Dec. 5, 2000); ‘‘Fake Ids’’ City News Service (May 18, 2001). Martinez’s
use of keywords, or ‘‘meta tags’’ to lure in potential customers did not go unnoticed by the Fed-
eral Trade Commission (FTC). In December 2000, the FTC filed a complaint in the U.S. District
Court for the Central District of California alleging that Martinez deliberately marketed his
website to consumers who were searching the Internet to find false identification documents.
The complaint noted Martinez’s use of such meta-tags as ‘‘illegal id,’’ ‘‘fake id fraud,’’ and ‘‘forg-
ing documents.
Pursuant to a May 2001 agreement approved by U.S. District Judge Christina A. Snyder to
settle the FTC lawsuit, Martinez will pay $20,000. He also agreed permanently to shut down
his website, which sold 45 days of access to fake ID templates for $29.99, and contained ‘‘high
quality’’ templates for the creation of fake California, Georgia, Florida, Maine, Nevada, New
Hampshire, New Jersey, Utah, Wisconsin, and New York driver’s licenses. (Martinez’s website
also contained a birth certificate template, programs to generate bar codes—required in some
States to authenticate driver’s licenses—and a program to falsify Social Security numbers.)
76 Subcommittee deposition of Timothy Beachum, at 11 (Apr. 5, 2000) (‘‘Beachum deposition’’).
25
Beachum acknowledged under cross-examination that he also used

the simple keyword ‘‘fake IDs.’’ 77
In fact, the Subcommittee examined the key words that several
of the website operators used, and discovered that the use of the
word ‘‘fake’’ and its variants appeared much more frequently than
the word ‘‘novelty,’’ despite the website operators’ claims that their
products were solely for ‘‘novelty,’’ ‘‘entertainment,’’ or ‘‘edu-
cational’’ purposes. Dansereau, for example, used approximately 22
keywords or phrases to advertise his website. The word ‘‘fake’’ (or
a variant such as ‘‘false’’) appeared 12 times. Dansereau, in fact,
did not use the word ‘‘novelty’’ to advertise his website at all.78
Similarly, Brett Carreras, operator of fakeid.net, used approxi-
mately 37 keywords to market his website. The keyword ‘‘fake’’ or
its variants appear 9 times in Carreras’ usage, and the word ‘‘nov-
elty’’ appears only twice.79
Tim Catron, the operator of fakeidzone.com, illustrated the effec-
tiveness of keywords such as ‘‘fake’’ by making the results of his
eXTReMe Tracking service available to the public.80 While nearly
36 percent of the visitors to Catron’s website used the keyword
‘‘fake’’ when searching for false identification on the Internet, less
than two-tenths of one percent used the keyword ‘‘novelty.’’ 81 De-
spite the fact that the advertising copy on these websites may con-
tain the word ‘‘novelty,’’ the websites clearly target those customers
who are in search of authentic-looking false identification docu-
ments.
D. Disclaimers Have Little or No Legal Impact
(1) Claims of Novelty
Websites offering to produce false identification documents occa-
sionally post disclaimers stating that the documents they sell are
for ‘‘novelty’’ use only and should not be used for illegal purposes.
Companies providing templates also frequently require users of
their products to ‘‘agree’’ that they will not use the materials for
illegal purposes. Sites may also require those accessing the infor-
mation to waive liability against the company for any illegal acts,
and to state that the individual using the site is not a law enforce-
ment officer and will not use the material offered on the site as evi-
dence for any charge of violating Federal, State, or local laws. One
website providing templates seeks to avoid liability by asserting
that the consumer is the one who actually produces the fraudulent
document.82
77 Id. at 141.
78 Josh Dansereau, Gallery (visited Nov. 9, 1999) http://www.fakeid1.com/gallery.htm.
Dansereau also used the keywords ‘‘False, Forging and Illegal’’ to advertise his website.
79 Brett Carreras, fakeid.net (visited Dec. 21, 1999) www.fakeid.net/free.html. The keywords
‘‘forge’’ (or variants) and ‘‘phony’’ (or variants) are each used twice.
80 See Extreme Digital (visited Jan. 24, 2000) http://www.eXTRemeTracking. Extreme
Tracking is a service offered by Extreme Digital that tracks visitor traffic to a client’s website.
The information gathered includes the numbers of visitors, geographical and domain informa-
tion about the visitors, and the keywords visitors used in a search engine to find the client’s
website. Catron made these records public in an attempt to demonstrate the profitability of his
website to potential buyers in connection with his effort to sell the site through an online auc-
tion.
81 Id.
82 See Tim Beachum, Best Fake ID’s (visited Mar. 13, 2000) http://www.bestfakeids.com.
26
Many websites purport to sell ‘‘novelty’’ or ‘‘fun’’ products despite

marketing that undermines their claims. For example, Martinez of-
fered a ‘‘New Identity Kit’’ that contains ‘‘[e]verything you need to
create a new identity for fun!!’’ yet he encouraged Internet users
to order ‘‘before we are shut down by the authorities.’’ 83 On his
website, Bestfakeids.com, Beachum continually referred to his prod-
uct as a ‘‘Novelty fake id kit,’’ but adds as a selling point: ‘‘Get a
job as a Resident Activity Coordinator Guaranteed—good jobs are
so hard to find and the system doesn’t make it any easier.’’ 84 In
his Subcommittee deposition, Beachum noted that it was not his
intention that customers use the certificate to get a job. He claimed
that although ‘‘the whole site is a joke,’’ 85 he wanted his customers
to think that the certificate ‘‘looked like the real thing.’’ 86 Con-
tradictory statements such as these undermine the website opera-
tors’ contentions that they do not intend their products to be usable
as authentic identification documents and clearly suggest that they
wish to give regulators (and the Subcommittee) a rather different
impression than would-be customers. Another example is Robert
Sek, who operated ‘‘Theidshop,’’ a producer of high-quality false
identification documents ‘‘with many added security options such
as holograms.’’ Sek frequently referred to his products as ‘‘novelty
Ids.’’ However, he also stated that ‘‘Theidshop’’ was no longer ac-
cepting or processing orders from the State of Florida because of
the statewide false identification program there.87
(2) Disclaimers Do Not Discourage Sales
Obviously, the disclaimers on these websites do nothing to pre-
vent illegal use. Many websites have an initial page that states
that users must read the disclaimer in its entirety and agree to its
terms before entering the site. Frequently, however, very little of
the fine print disclaimer is visible without extensive screen
‘‘scrolling,’’ and nothing prevents users from simply hitting the
‘‘agree’’ button and proceeding directly to the main website pages
without reading the disclaimer at all—although this is not uncom-
mon with on-line software licensing and use agreements.
Many Internet users are conditioned to accept or agree to posted
disclaimers without reading them, and may believe that dis-
claimers are of minimal importance. For example, university stu-
dent Thana Barlee, who was arrested for making false identifica-
tion documents for university classmates, noted in an interview
with the Subcommittee that when he originally began searching
the Internet for materials to use, he routinely ignored the dis-
claimers he read on the various false identification websites. Barlee
added that he would see the disclaimers first, and then move to the
main pages. Barlee told the Subcommittee that he was aware of
the penalties associated with creating false identification but that,
when he was making the documents, he paid no heed to them.88
Seitz also recalled spotting a small disclaimer, and testified that
83 Jeremy Martinez, New Identity Kit (visited Jan. 20, 2000) www.vsub.com/newid./a.htm.
84 Beachum deposition, Exhibit 15.
85 Id. at 30.
86 Id. at 74.
87 Robert Sek, TheIDShop.com (visited Dec. 21, 1999) http://www.theidshop.com.
88 Subcommittee staff interview with Thana Barlee in Washington, D.C. (Mar. 23, 2000) (here-
inafter ‘‘Barlee interview’’).
27
‘‘I frequently came across disclaimers on the individual

sites stating, ‘For novelty use only.’ I cannot think of any
reason why a statement like that would be there. It did
not deter my actions in any way.’’ 89
Not only do website visitors attach little importance to the dis-
claimers, but some websites openly mock the disclaimers. The fol-
lowing is a disclaimer on the drink.to/idtemps website, operated by
an individual identified as ‘‘Rustheriddler’’:
‘‘All information or files found on this site are for informa-
tional, entertainment, or educational purposes only. What
you do with it is your responsibility and only yours, no one
else! If you are a government employee or have anything
to do with the government or law or anything at all, then
you can’t enter this site. You must be at least 3945 years
old and may not be either male, female, or both. If you
have purple skin, red hair with pink stripes, and wear
pink leather pants made from whale skin then you may
enter.’’ 90
Some operators reacted to Subcommittee scrutiny by quickly pro-
viding additional disclaimers. Until the Subcommittee contacted
Beachum, for example, his website contained only the briefest of
disclaimers:
‘‘Because our novelty fake id kit is distributed in a digital
format we do not of [sic] refunds. Our kit is sold as is. All
images found on this site is [sic] copyrighted, and can not
be used by any other web site without the written consent
of Best Fake ID’s.’’ 91
After he first spoke with Subcommittee staff, however, Beachum
quickly expanded his disclaimer to note that
‘‘[t]he information contained in this website is strictly for
academic use alone. BEST FAKE ID’s will bear no respon-
sibility for any use otherwise. All information on this web
site is for entertainment and educational purposes only.’’ 92
The Subcommittee found that both the website operators and the
users attach very little importance to these disclaimers—unless,
that is, they realize their activities are being studied by authori-
ties.
(3) Operators Use Disclaimers as a Shield
Some website operators try to protect themselves from any sort
of liability by using disclaimers on the materials they produce. Rob-
ert Sek, for example, shipped his false identification documents in
a laminated and sealed pouch printed with the words ‘‘not a gov-
ernment document’’ in red ink on both sides. The document could
be removed intact from this pouch easily and quickly. Sek’s false
identification cards also included a fine print disclaimer stating
that the card was intended for novelty purposes only and that the
89 Hearing
record, supra, at 16 (testimony of Thomas Seitz).
90 Rustheriddler,
Temps (visited Dec. 1, 2000) http://hammer.prohosting.com/idtemps/.
91 TimBeachum, Activity Coordinator Training Project (visited Jan. 6, 2000) http://www.
Bestfakeids.com.
92 Tim Beachum, Best Fake ID’s (visited Mar. 13, 2000) http://www.bestfakeids.com.
28
card is in no way affiliated or associated with any government enti-

ty—but this was printed in a nearly unreadable approximately 2-
point font, and placed it in such a way as to resemble the
boilerplate explanation of restrictions found on the backs of many
genuine ID cards. Moreover, in some cases, the disclaimer may be
present, yet remain undetected. As Lieutenant Myers testified at
the hearing:
‘‘The word ‘novelty’ we find on a large percentage of identi-
fication cards that come off the Internet. It may be printed
so small that you need a magnifying glass to read it, or it
may be just part of the disclaimer that comes across. I
know of no lawful purpose for someone to use a supposed
novelty ID, and in hundreds and hundreds of cases that
we have investigated, we find that the word ‘novelty’ is
right on the license somewhere. It is just no one can take
the time or has the ability to even detect it.’’ 93
Clearly, these types of illegible or easily removable disclaimers
violate the terms set out in § 1738. As explained in Section I.(D) of
this report, Federal law defines, for practical purposes, what a nov-
elty identification card must look like. Under § 1738, any identifica-
tion document bearing a birth date or age must ‘‘carry diagonally
printed clearly and indelibly on both the front and back ‘NOT A
GOVERNMENT DOCUMENT’ in capital letters in not less than
12-point type.’’ 94 The term ‘‘identification document’’ is defined as
‘‘a type intended or commonly accepted for the purpose of identi-
fication of individuals and which is not issued by or under the au-
thority of a government.’’ 95 The statute provides for imposition of
a penalty of up to 1 year’s imprisonment for transporting in inter-
state or foreign commerce identification documents that do not
meet these statutory requirements.96 Because it was apparent that
technology allowed some individuals to skirt this law, § 1738 was
repealed by the Internet False Identification Act of 2000. Criminals
can no longer hide behind the shield of such disclaimers.
Virtually all of the identification documents that the Sub-
committee examined over the course of its investigation did not sat-
isfy the above definition of novelty identification under Federal
law. Accordingly, the unilateral efforts of the distributors of such
products to characterize them as ‘‘novelty’’ identification in order to
shield themselves from criminal liability are likely to be ineffective
as a legal defense. Seitz, who used false identification documents
to commit a crime, agreed that website operators post disclaimers
merely in an attempt to protect themselves and mask their true in-
tentions:
‘‘They are pretty much trying to cover themselves, in my
opinion, because they do not necessarily go out of their
way to say, go use this for an illegal purpose, but [by post-
ing] the disclaimer, they are probably, in my opinion, try-
ing to cover themselves. It does not discourage anyone.’’ 97
94 18 U.S.C. § 1738 (a)(1)–(2).
95 Id.at § 1738(b).
96 See id. at § 1738(a).
97 Hearing record, supra, at 19 (testimony of Thomas Seitz).
29
To be sure, there are true novelty identification sites on the

Internet.98 The Subcommittee’s investigation, however, did not
focus upon such sites because of their obviously novelty nature. For
example, a ‘‘Super Secret Agent’’ card or a ‘‘Backseat Driver’s Li-
cense’’ is unlikely to assist anyone in committing bank fraud. The
products that these sites offer bear little, if any, resemblance to the
bona fide documents on which they are based. The sites that the
Subcommittee targeted, by contrast, promote their products as
being virtual, if not exact, replicas of bona fide identification docu-
ments.
It is also worth noting that some false identification websites do
not carry any disclaimers whatsoever.99 The Subcommittee exam-
ined a number of such sites, but could not gain much information
about the operators because, in large part, they appear to be lo-
cated abroad. (As a result, the Subcommittee was unable to compel
their compliance with a subpoena.) Other sites operating without
disclaimers use anonymous e-mail and free web hosting services,
which do not verify their customers’ contact information. Many per-
sons using such services submit false contact information, making
it—as intended—more difficult to track down the true operators be-
hind such websites. Nevertheless, it is noteworthy that some false
identification sites made no effort to shield themselves from scru-
tiny by a false claim of novelty. (The fact that many such websites
appeared to be located overseas also illustrates the wisdom of re-
pealing § 1738, which clearly seems to have functioned principally
to provide United States-based false identification sites with a pat-
ina of legality through the use of ostensible ‘‘novelty’’ disclaimers.)
(4) Legal Challenges to Disclaimers
Several Internet discussion boards that the Subcommittee re-
viewed included messages on ‘‘novelty’’ identification.100 The Sub-
committee found that assertions of ‘‘novelty’’ with regard to the
type of websites the Subcommittee investigated are often under-
stood to be thinly veiled attempts to hide the sites’ true illicit na-
ture. Clearly, the marketing of these websites is very much at odds
with the disclaimers that they post. Tim Beachum’s site was a
prime example. Prior to the time the Subcommittee contacted
Beachum, he had only a single disclaimer posted in fine print on
his website. This disclaimer stood in stark contrast to his more
general claim that, by purchasing his products, customers could
‘‘create fake ids so real that you could fool your own mother.’’ 101
As noted above, it was only after the Subcommittee had contacted
Beachum that he added a clearly worded and prominently dis-
played disclaimer. Nevertheless, even such prominent disclaimers
would not insulate Beachum from liability even before the repeal
of § 1738, because the birth certificate and driver’s licenses that he
98 See e.g., Hearing record, supra, at Exhibit 23 (Coolcards—Postcards from the Net (visited
Nov. 29, 2000) http://www.coolcards.com).
99 See e.g., Hearing record, Exhibit 3 (Idsolution.com (visited Jan. 4, 2000) http://www.
idsolution.com).
100 See e.g., Hearing record, Exhibit 27 (FakeID.NetDiscussion Board http://www.
carreras.net/discus (post by ‘‘Webhost’’ on Oct. 13, 1999).
101 Tim Beachum, Best Fake ID’s (visited Mar. 13, 2000) http://www.bestfakeids.com.
30
offered do not bear disclaimers within the parameters of the stat-

ute.
Law enforcement has investigated and prosecuted website opera-
tors who rely on these disclaimers. For example, State and Federal
law enforcement officials have investigated at least two operators
of Internet websites—Josh Dansereau 102 and Robert Sek 103—de-
spite lengthy and prominently displayed disclaimers on their sites
and the presence of at least notional disclaimers on Sek’s product
and on the plastic pouches in which it was delivered. The U.S. Se-
cret Service’s investigation of Sek, which was conducted jointly
with the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Control Board, resulted in the
execution of search warrants at Sek’s Austin residence on March
10, 2000. Dansereau was sentenced to a term of probation after
pleading guilty to violating a Florida statute criminalizing the dis-
tribution of false identification documents.
Two of the website operators that the Subcommittee examined
closely, Carreras and Catron, invoked their Fifth Amendment privi-
lege against self-incrimination as the basis for refusing to answer
any deposition or interrogatory questions. Both of these witnesses
posted disclaimers on their websites similar to those Beachum uti-
lized.
All in all, the Subcommittee considers the posting of these dis-
claimers to be a disingenuous and ineffective effort to conceal the
true purpose of such websites—namely, to distribute false identi-
fication documents by taking advantage of the speed, relative ano-
nymity, and enormous client base the Internet offers.
E. Role of the Internet
(1) The Internet Allows Instantaneous and Anonymous Sales
and Transfers of False Identification
Before the use of the Internet for commerce, businesses were
largely limited to customers who could contact them (or whom they
could contact) in person, by telephone, or through the mail. This
placed some practical limits upon the size of one’s customer base
and imposed some largely unavoidable capital investment require-
ments. The Internet, however, makes geographic boundaries and
overhead costs largely insignificant. Particularly in conjunction
with credit-card-based payment systems, a customer in a remote lo-
cation in one part of the world may now purchase materials from
a business in a remote location in another part of the world, pro-
vided that both parties have access to the Internet. Indeed, the cus-
tomer may not necessarily ever even know where the business is
located, or anything more about it than the address of its website
and whatever information happens to have been posted there. (As
the Subcommittee also found in trying to track down the operators
of false identification websites, the Internet provides powerful
means by which to hide information about site operators.)
Unfortunately, these developments have proven to be a great
boon for the false identification business. When the product pur-
chased over the Internet consists only of computer files such as a
false identification template, for example, it can be delivered al-
102 See Josh Dansereau, Fake Id One http://wwwfakeidl.com.
103 See Robert Sek, The ID Shop http://www.theidshop.com.
31
most instantaneously, increasing the advantages of such trans-

actions as compared to traditional methods of marketing and dis-
tribution. According to U.S. Secret Service Director Brian Stafford:
‘‘Most of the false identifications either come from * * * the
template on the Internet or they actually come from true
identities that are scanned and then desktop publishing is
utilized and it is ultimately placed on the Internet, where,
as you know, a button can be pushed and it can be sent
anywhere in the world.’’ 104
Moreover, the quality of the product is not affected by this trans-
mission. As Lieutenant Myers testified at the hearing, ‘‘The graph-
ics that can be produced on the computer, they can be electroni-
cally transmitted to anyone in the world in that same quality.’’ 105
(Use of such readily-obtainable templates, of course, is decidedly
superior to traditional false-identification techniques, which may
have involved such crude expedients as using a razor blade or
other instrument to alter identification documents individually.)
For businesses promoting false identification materials, and for
customers seeking such products, the Internet also allows an al-
most instantaneous transaction. An individual who uses the Inter-
net can locate and produce the desired false identification docu-
ment in an amazingly short period of time. Thomas Seitz testified
during the hearing that he found the templates and created the
fraudulent birth certificates that he utilized in ‘‘a matter of min-
utes.’’ 106
Using the Internet thus enables operators to keep their costs and
risks at a minimum, while offering a product of consistently high
quality with unprecedented rapidity and efficiency. All in all, this
has proven to be a business bonanza. In fact, Trent Sands wrote
in Fake ID by Mail and Modem that:
The Internet has breathed new life into the world of false
identification. Many new companies are springing up to
meet the needs of those who want documentation saying
they are someone else. * * * The robust health of the mail-
order and Internet identification business is in stark con-
trast to the situation of just a few years ago.107
Websites selling ‘‘memberships’’ or access to password protected
information may acquire customers who purchase continuing mem-
berships using credit cards that are billed monthly by a third party
with the understanding that the website operator will provide new
information or additional services through the website. One
Website offering access only to ‘‘members’’ promised, ‘‘More Up-
dates Coming Soon! More being added all the time!’’ 108 Such up-
to-date information can be useful in circumstances where a State
modifies the design of or adds security features to a driver’s li-
cense.
Elimination of the distance barriers for transactions involving
false identification materials presents new challenges for law en-
104 Hearing record, supra, at 26 (testimony of Director Stafford).
105 Id.at 20 (testimony of Lieutenant Myers).
106 Id.at 18 (testimony of Thomas Seitz).
107 Sands, supra, at 1.
108 Jeremy Martinez, Homepage (visited Jan. 5, 2000) newid.ultramailweb.com.
32
forcement. Bruce Schneider, Chief Technology Officer at Counter-

pane Internet Security, observed, ‘‘The Net changes the nature of
crime. * * * This is the death of distance: Crime is no longer based
on proximity.’’ 109 Law enforcement agencies in the United States
face particular jurisdictional and other obstacles when criminal ac-
tivity based in another country affects United States citizens. The
Internet compounds these problems because of its ability to pro-
mote commerce and communication between distant locations, com-
bined with the ability to conceal users’ identities.
A report of the President’s Working Group on Unlawful Conduct
on the Internet described the jurisdictional problems facing law en-
forcement agencies seeking to investigate crimes committed using
the Internet:
‘‘The challenge to law enforcement is identifying that loca-
tion [of a computer] and deciding which laws apply to what
conduct. The question is how sovereign nations can mean-
ingfully enforce national laws and procedures on a global
Internet. Inconsistent substantive criminal laws are only
part of the problem, for investigative techniques are also
controlled by national (or local) law. For example, law en-
forcement agencies must consider such issues as trans-
border execution of search warrants.’’ 110
Concealment of one’s identity provides those engaging in crimi-
nal activities another tool to avoid detection by law enforcement. In
a statement delivered to the Senate Judiciary Committee, a Justice
Department official noted that a
‘‘fundamental issue facing law enforcement involves prov-
ing a criminal’s identity in a networked environment. In
all crimes—including cybercrimes—we must prove the de-
fendant’s guilt beyond a reasonable doubt, but global net-
works lack effective identification mechanisms. Indeed, in-
dividuals on the Internet can be anonymous, and even
those individuals who identify themselves can adopt false
identities by providing inaccurate biographical information
and misleading screen names. Even if a criminal does not
intentionally use anonymity as a shield, it is easy to see
how difficult it could be for law enforcement to prove who
was actually sitting at the keyboard and committing the il-
legal act. This is particularly true because identifiable
physical attributes such as fingerprints, voices, or faces
are absent from cyberspace, and there are few mechanisms
for proving identity in an electronic environment.’’ 111
109 ‘‘Foil the Hackers? A Security Maven Discusses the Impossible,’’ Business Week (Mar. 6,
2000), at 32F–32J (interview of Bruce Schneider, Chief Technology Officer, Counterpane Inter-
net Security Inc., San Jose, California).
110 U.S. Department of Justice’s, Report of the President’s Working Group on Unlawful Con-
duct on the Internet, at 20 (Mar. 9, 2000).

111 Internet Crimes Affecting Consumers: Hearings before the Subcommittee on Technology,
Terrorism and Government Information of the Senate Judiciary Committee, 105th Congress, 1st
Session (Mar. 19, 1997) (statement of Robert S. Litt, Deputy Assistant Attorney General, Crimi-
nal Division, U.S. Department of Justice).
33
(2) Website Operators Disguise Their Names and Locations

The Subcommittee found that several websites use a variety of
tactics to make it difficult for law enforcement to discover their
identities. Most websites on the Internet use simple addresses,
such as yahoo.com, that allow companies to be easily identified
through Network Solutions, the company responsible for reg-
istering most commercial websites in the United States. Domain
names are usually accompanied by registration information that is
publically available. This information normally contains the name
of the company or individuals registering the website, their ad-
dress, telephone number, and e-mail address.
Some operators of websites that offer false identification mate-
rials cloak their identities by providing false or erroneous informa-
tion when their domain name is registered. For example, one
website offering false identification materials registered its domain
name listing a fictitious address and telephone number in Mex-
ico.112 Other sites operate using free server space from a web host,
usually placing advertisements on the screens of users of such
pages. For example, one website offering false identification mate-
rial, Promaster Cards,113 uses a web hosting service called
Xoom,114 which prevents public identification of the company or
persons responsible for the site through Network Solutions. Such
actions make it more difficult for law enforcement to contact such
companies about their activities and, if the operations are run from
foreign countries, render apprehension even more difficult.
Companies or individuals may also use a series of different web
hosts and e-mail addresses to remain hidden from detection, akin
to moving the location of a business every few weeks. This practice
would be impossible for conventional businesses with physical loca-
tions because the cost would be prohibitive. It is simple to accom-
plish, however, on the Internet. Lieutenant Myers testified that on
many occasions he has shut down a website, only to find the same
site reappear at a new web address: ‘‘these people will be right
back, and we have found in many cases that we have even arrested
people for [violations of false identification statutes], then we find
them back on the Internet.’’ 115
Websites offering false identification materials also frequently
use post office boxes or the address of a commercial mail-receiving
agency to receive mail. Such addresses can be established using
intermediaries, thus masking the identity as well as the location of
the actual operator of the business. In addition, such addresses can
be quickly changed, and the address change can be made on the
web page in a matter of minutes, allowing website operators to
avoid detection by law enforcement. This method of preserving ano-
nymity works for customers as well. Trent Sands, in his book on
false identification, advises his readers to ‘‘[a]lways use a mail-re-
ceiving service to order any document from a false ID vendor.
Never use your real name when ordering documents. Always pay
112 Network Solutions, Registration of idsolution.com (visited Dec. 12, 1999) http://
www.networksolutions.com.
113 See Hearing record, supra, at Exhibit 13.
114 Xoom is owned by NBCi.com. Promaster Cards actually uses an Italian subsidiary of Xoom.
See http://members.xoom.it/—XOOM/driverid/index.html.
34
by money order.’’ He suggests that this safeguard will help protect

the customer from law enforcement crackdowns on false identifica-
tion manufacturers—which may lead to authorities’ acquisition of
the names of and contact information for illegal manufacturers’
customers.116
Many operators of websites offering false identification materials
use e-mail accounts that can be obtained anonymously, and thus
hinder easy identification of the operator. An individual may obtain
a virtually unlimited number of e-mail accounts from sources that
are free, and may avoid detection by frequently changing e-mail ac-
counts.
Persons using the Internet to distribute false identification docu-
ments often use computer technology and features unique to the
Internet to protect their anonymity and avoid law enforcement. For
instance, one individual posted a message on the discussion board
at fakeid.net, advising those who manufacture counterfeit docu-
ments how to avoid detection:
‘‘Never work at home, if possible and you have the means,
never work in your own State or sell to people in your own
State. Keep moving. Work out of hotels, your car or an
Apartment in another name. (Laptops essential) Encrypt.
They don’t really need hard evidence, but you damn sure
don’t need to give them any.Keep nothing on hard drives
and clean your free space often. * * * Keep business deal-
ings separate. Ten people don’t need to know you and each
other. You should be known as a different name to each
person. Have a new ID (a real one) on standby. Don’t use
it for [deleted] until you need it. Mandatory.Self explana-
tory. When you get out of jail you are now a convicted
felon, life is now a [deleted].’’ 117
As the Subcommittee has found with other Internet-related in-
vestigations, anonymity is a key element for many of the operators
of websites conducting illegal activities. During this investigation,
the Subcommittee found websites offering false identification docu-
ments that never stated the company’s name, address, or telephone
number.118 Some operators of websites request customers to com-
municate only by e-mail 119 or require a purchase to be made by
credit card over the Internet. Some companies intentionally locate
outside of the United States or use mailing addresses in Canada
or an overseas location in order to insulate themselves from inves-
tigation by law enforcement agencies in the United States. The web
page of one company, Promaster Cards, stated as follows:
‘‘Already we have been shut down several times by the FBI
and Treasury Department under various forgery acts of
US law. * * * We have now moved our web site to the UK
but continue to process orders for our clients from around
the world from our studios in the New York area. In the
116 Sands, supra, at 8 (emphasis in original).
117 Hearing record, supra, at Exhibit 25 (FakeIDNet Message Board http://
www.carreras.net/discus (post by ‘‘Risingson’’ on Oct. 13, 1999)) (original punctuation and
spelling preserved).
118 For example, the web page of fakeid.net has no company name, address, or phone num-
ber. See FakeID.Net http://www.fakeid.net.
119 Hearing record, supra, at Exhibit 25.
35
next few months we expect to be shut down again but we

will bound back as always from another part of the net.
Hopefully in the UK they will take a little bit longer to
catch on.’’ 120
F. Websites Offering False Identification Materials Facilitate
Other Crimes
While it is a crime in and of itself to manufacture and sell a
counterfeit identification document, false identification documents
can also be used to further engage in other illegal activities. In-
deed, this is presumably the principal source of demand for such
documents. When the Subcommittee commenced its investigation
into the increasing availability of false identification and creden-
tials over the Internet, it aimed to curb the use of false identifica-
tion principally because of the host of other crimes ranging from
underage drinking to credit card and bank fraud to identity theft
that are facilitated by false identification. Senator Levin noted in
his opening statement, for example, that false identification docu-
ments are:
‘‘often now being used to carry out improper or criminal
activities—to obtain fraudulent loans, to evade taxes, to
establish a new identity, to steal another individual’s iden-
tity, to defraud Federal and State Governments, to mis-
represent one’s residence or place of birth or age for any
variety of purposes.’’ 121
This sentiment was confirmed by Director Stafford, who noted that
there is a false identification component to nearly every financial
crimes arrest the Secret Service makes, including bank fraud, cred-
it card fraud, telecommunications fraud and computer fraud.122
Bank fraud and identity theft may be more serious crimes than
the manufacture of false identification, however, it is often the
manufacture of phony identification that allows bank fraud or iden-
tity theft to occur. Moreover, as worrisome as crimes such as bank
fraud and identity theft clearly are, in the wake of the terrorist
atrocities of September 11, 2001, it now appears that the dangers
of false identification are greater than most observers have imag-
ined.
The Subcommittee found significant evidence of the criminal mo-
tivations of users of false identification from messages posted on
various Internet discussion boards, a forum that has blossomed as
the Internet itself has grown. For example, the following messages
were exchanged on an Internet discussion board about false identi-
fication on March 15–16, 2000:
‘‘Who would pay 225$ for an Id with a holo[gram]??? thats
just a waste of money and only losers would pay for it.
And who would buy an id withouht a holo? only losers who
just suck. Wizz is a good guy but if u wanna make money
you should get authentic looking holos and not some
crappy ones that are not part of the state and then mad
people gonna buy. and whoever is stupid enough to buy an
120 Id. at Exhibit 13.
121 Id. at 4 (remarks of Senator Carl Levin).
122 Hearing record, supra, at 26 (testimony of Director Stafford).
36
Id without a Holo then you’re gonna be [deleted] cause u

will get caught.
Will
Will,
I would have to disagree with you. When i can get them,
i pay $300.00 for them with true holo’s all the time. I have
to have holo’s on mine. Just to give you an idea, i am clos-
er to being 40 years old than being 21 years old. So I am
not using them to buy alcohol or get into clubs. I am using
them at banks.(they have to pass the book check) So to pay
$300.00 for one that looks exact is a no brainer. I would
feel more comfortable paying $300.00 for a quality one,
then trying to save myself some money by buying one for
$25.00 and get nailed. This is one of those things that i
truly believe that you get what you pay for. I do agree
with you regarding the holo’s though, if they are not the
correct ones for that State then don’t even bother putting
them on, you will end up getting your [deleted] thrown in
jail.
—Ed’’ 123
The Subcommittee discovered the following posting on a website
containing a discussion boards that center on false identification
materials:
‘‘+++URGENT+++
‘‘I need an american or canadian fake id, birth certificate
and social security card that will get me from canada to
the u.s. and will make it through immigration and border
patrol
—any State will work
—high priority, money no problem, must be very well done
and professional
—please email me right away at [e-mail address de-
leted]’’ 124
Another post by the web host of one site offering false identifica-
tion materials stated as follows: ‘‘There are people out there that
aren’t 17 years old, snaking past that 80-year-old bar guy to snag
a 40 oz. [beer]. There are people out there that craft stuff better
than DMVs and more untraceable.’’ 125 This same post advises
others about tricks to avoid legal problems: ‘‘Use your language ap-
propriately * * * integrate words like ‘‘novelty’’, ‘‘educational’’ and
‘‘informational’’ as often as possible.’’ 126 Such users are clearly an-
ticipating using their phony identification for a host of illegal ac-
tivities, and are not intending to use their phony identification and
123 Id., Exhibit 26 (Fakeidman Is ID List http://www.pages.eidosnet.co.uk/fakeidman/
(post by ‘‘Will’’ and ‘‘Ed’’ on Mar. 17, 2000)) (original punctuation and spelling preserved).
124 Fake ID Zone http://www.fakeidzone.com (post by ‘‘tulip’’ on Feb. 21, 2000).
125 Hearing record, supra, at Exhibit 27.
126 Id.
37
credentials ‘‘for novelty purposes only,’’ as the website operators

suggest.
(1) Identity Theft
Identity theft is reported to be one of the fastest growing crimes
in the United States, and led to the introduction of S. 1399, the
Identity Theft Prevention Act of 2001 by Senators Feinstein, Shel-
by, Corzine, Kyl, and Grassley in September 2001. Identity theft is
possible without false identification documents, but it is much more
difficult.
Individuals who seek to engage in identity theft may find the
Internet a valuable tool. In addition to using the Internet to gain
personal information about an individual whose identity they may
wish to steal, the Internet facilitates identity theft through the pro-
duction of quality counterfeit identification documents. According
to Norman A. Willox, Jr., Chief Executive Officer of the National
Fraud Center,
‘‘The computer and, more recently, the Internet have
brought identity theft to a much more insidious level. They
have allowed the identity thief to obtain personal identi-
fiers of multiple persons quicker; to access higher quality
fake identification tools (driver’s licenses, birth certificates,
social security cards, etc.) and, through e-commerce, to
render the credit transaction completely impersonal. The
potential harm caused by an identity thief using the Inter-
net is exponential.127
Not only was Thomas Seitz, who testified at the hearing about
his use of false identification to commit identity theft, able to gath-
er information on his potential victims by searching the Internet,
but he was also able to obtain online the false identity documents
he needed to commit identity theft. Seitz testified that it was large-
ly because he was able to find personal information about other
people, as well as the means to create false identification, that he
committed the criminal acts for which he has been convicted:
‘‘Although at first I did not have the intent to defraud any-
one, I started searching the Internet again and determined
that there were a large number of sites that offered the
means to make false identification and the opportunity
presented itself.’’ 128
In July 2000, the Subcommittee learned of a case in which an in-
dividual used false identification that he very likely obtained from
website operator Robert Sek to perpetrate identity theft and a host
of financial crimes. After finding a wallet belonging to Dr. Charles
Glueck, Benito Castro used false identification in Glueck’s name to
commit bank fraud, credit card fraud, and insurance fraud, eventu-
ally racking up $35,000 in debt on ten credit cards that Castro ob-
tained in Glueck’s name. Castro told Louisiana State Police Lieu-
tenant Kermit Smith, who investigated the crime, that after he
bought the identification over the Internet, the seller offered him
127 National Fraud Center, Inc. and Norman A. Willox, Jr., White Paper: Identity Theft: Au-
thentication As a Solution 5 (Mar. 16, 2000) (presented at National Summit on Identity Theft).
38
a job as a sales representative. The Subcommittee examined Cas-

tro’s fake identification and found it to be virtually identical to the
one the Subcommittee bought undercover from Robert Sek, right
down to the disclaimer-bearing plastic pouch in which the identi-
fication was packaged.129
Castro’s document, like the Oklahoma identification document
the Subcommittee obtained from Sek directly, was printed on stiff
white plastic, and closely resembled in its design, coloring and
fonts, a Louisiana driver’s license. Again, like the Subcommittee’s
document, this false identification document omitted the words
‘‘driver’s license’’ and included a fine print disclaimer on the back.
On August 9, 2000, in the 19th Judicial District Court of Lou-
isiana, Benito Castro pled guilty to 10 counts of identity theft, one
count of theft, and one count of bank fraud.130 Castro, who is the
first man sentenced under Louisiana’s 1999 Identity Theft law, is
currently serving a 10-year term of incarceration at hard labor
without possibility of parole at a Louisiana State correctional facil-
ity.131
(2) Recent Terrorist Acts May Have Been Facilitated by False
Identification
The consequences of failing to curb the spread of false identifica-
tion are grave indeed, and go potentially far beyond simply facili-
tating under-age drinking—in fact, evidence indicates that some
associates of the Al Qaeda terrorist organization may have used
false identification and immigration documents. False identification
documents and credentials can enable criminals to gain unauthor-
ized access to secure areas in airports and to open bank and credit
card accounts under false identities in order to finance their activi-
ties. In addition, phony identification enables criminals to obtain
bona fide, yet unsupported and unauthorized, identification docu-
ments such as driver’s licenses. Their efforts to hide behind such
false identities makes it much harder for law enforcement and in-
telligence officials to identify them.
One week after the horrific September 11 attacks, Federal agents
arrested three men who may be associated with the terrorists’ net-
work on charges of possessing false identification. The identifica-
tion documents, which are in the name of another individual al-
leged to be an associate of bin Laden who was arrested later, in-
clude a U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service Form I–94
and a U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service alien identifica-
tion card (both of which have been confirmed as false by the U.S.
Immigration and Naturalization Service), and a United States visa
(which has been confirmed as false by a State Department Diplo-
matic Service agent). The documents, which the suspects told
agents were false, also included a U.S. Social Security Administra-
tion card, and a ‘‘World Service Authority’’ passport.132 In addition,
129 For more information on the Subcommittee’s undercover purchase, see Section III.A.(1)(c).
130 State of Louisiana v. Benito Castro, Case No. 09–00–680 (Nineteenth Judicial District
Court for the Parish of East Baton Rouge, State of Louisiana, Aug. 9, 2000) (Information). More
specifically, Castro was convicted of 10 counts of identity theft under Louisiana Revised Statute
14:67.16(C)(1), one count of theft of over $500 under Louisiana Revised Statute 14:67(B)(1), and
one count of bank fraud under Louisiana Revised Statute 14:71.1.
131 Keith O’Brien, ‘‘Identity Thief Gets 10 Years in Jail’’ Times Picayune (Aug. 10, 2000).
132 See United States of America v. Ahmed Hannan, Case No. 01–80778; United States of
America v. Karim Koubriti, Case No. 01–80779; United States of America v. Farouk Ali-Hamoud,
39
two of the individuals are alleged to have obtained driver’s licenses

in both Ohio and Michigan, apparently using false supporting docu-
ments.
The FBI is investigating whether some of the terrorists who
crashed American Airlines Flight 77 into the Pentagon obtained
bona fide Virginia identification cards using false supporting docu-
ments, such as false sworn statements attesting to their Virginia
residency.133 In a case that was opened prior to September 11,
2001, investigators are looking into how approximately 20 individ-
uals in seven States obtained licenses that permitted them to haul
explosives and hazardous materials such as dynamite, gases, and
toxic or radioactive waste. It is unclear what they may have in-
tended to do using these credentials.134
(3) Infiltration of Federal Facilities Using Phony Identification
Shortly after the Subcommittee’s hearing on false identification,
the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime held a hearing on
May 25, 2000, which detailed the results of a GAO undercover op-
eration and underscored the Subcommittee’s findings about the
dangers posed by the widespread availability of false identification.
GAO investigators from the Office of Special Investigations (OSI)
were able to breach security at 21 of the most secure buildings in
the United States, including the CIA, the FBI, and several airports
by claiming that they were armed law enforcement officers. The in-
vestigators displayed phony law enforcement badges and phony
credentials that they had crafted themselves using graphics soft-
ware and images culled from Internet websites, and which bore lit-
tle resemblance to the genuine articles. When the investigators pre-
sented themselves at security checkpoints, they were waved around
metal detectors and were not screened.
In a similar operation at certain sensitive Defense Department
facilities on May 10, 2001 commissioned by Senator Collins, GAO/
OSI investigators penetrated the sites using easily-obtainable false
identification—thus demonstrating their potentially catastrophic
vulnerability to unauthorized access by criminals or terrorists.135
Upon learning that OSI had confirmed the suspected vulnerability
of these facilities, Senator Collins immediately contacted Deputy
Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz to notify him of these problems
so that the Department could promptly begin corrective action.
Though such improvements are now underway, GAO’s findings in
these multiple penetration tests demonstrate that Internet and
computer technologies allow nearly anyone easily to create dan-
Case No. 01–80780 (each in U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Michigan, Sept. 18, 2001)
(affidavit of Special Agent Robert Pertuso in support of Criminal Complaints), and Tamar
Lewin, ‘‘A Nation Challenged: The Charges: Accusations Against 93 Vary Widely,’’ New York
Times (Nov. 28, 2001), at B6. ‘‘World Service Authority’’ passports are not government-issued.
See www.worldservice.org.
133 Brooke A. Masters, ‘‘Hijackers Exploited DMV Loophole,’’ Washington Post (Sept. 21, 2001),
at A15, and Tamar Lewin, ‘‘A Nation Challenged: The Charges: Accusations Against 93 Vary
Widely,’’ New York Times (Nov. 28, 2001), at B6, and Matthew Barakat, ‘‘Fourth Person
Charged With Helping Hijackers Gain Fake Ids,’’ Associated Press (Oct. 25, 2001), and Alex-
andra R. Moses, ‘‘Attacks Investigation Points to Pocket of Terrorist Support,’’ Associated Press
(Nov. 17, 2001).
134 John Mintz and Allan Lengel, ‘‘FBI Arrests Liquor Store Clerk,’’ Washington Post (Sep-
tember 21, 2001) at A14.
135 As noted above, this investigation demonstrated such a serious security vulnerability that
the Defense Department classified the previously-unclassified GAO report at the SECRET level.
40
gerously convincing identification cards and credentials.136 (This

problem is compounded by the vast array of law enforcement iden-
tification cards currently in use.)
III. Case Studies
The pages that follow contain brief summaries of the evidence
that the Subcommittee collected over the course of its 5-month in-
vestigation about specific websites that manufacture and market
counterfeit identification documents. This report also includes a
brief summary of two instances that the Subcommittee examined
where criminals went online to obtain false identification materials
to further other illegal behavior.
A. The Sellers
1. Robert Sek: theidshop.com
(a) Business
Robert Sek, of Austin, Texas, was born in 1979. In April 1998
Sek used the alias Arthur Biscay (a combination of his middle
name and his parent’s street address) to register the domain name
theidshop.com.137
Sek told Lieutenant Myers that he owned approximately $30,000
worth of equipment which he used to manufacture false identifica-
tion documents.138 In March 2000, while executing a search war-
rant at Sek’s Austin residence, authorities seized a computer, pho-
tographic quality printer, lamination machine, identification book-
lets, printed identification cards, customer orders for identification
products, money orders,139 and other evidence—including a Cen-
tury United safe containing hologram film and approximately
$16,000 in cash.140
Sek told Lieutenant Myers that he sold his products for approxi-
mately $50 each, and that he generated approximately $600,000 in
revenue annually. In addition, Sek told Lieutenant Myers that he
made approximately 1,000 false identification documents each
month.141 Indeed, after searching Sek’s trash on January 19 and
February 7, 2000, investigators retrieved approximately 300 enve-
lopes addressed to the ID Shop.142
In addition, Sek told Lieutenant Myers that his operation was
extensive, employing at least 17 sales representatives across the
United States. In fact, Sek advertised for employees on the ‘‘job
openings’’ page of his website, which stated that
‘‘if you are the type of person who likes easy money, then
this job is for you. We currently have 70 sales reps all over
the United States making salaries ranging from $200 to
136 Hast statement, supra.
137 Network Solutions http://www.networksolutions.com/whois/.
138 Affidavit of Clarke Skoby, Special Agent, U.S. Secret Service, at 1 (Mar. 9, 2000) [herein-
after ‘‘First Skoby affidavit’’].
139 Affidavit of Clarke Skoby, Special Agent, U.S. Secret Service, at 1 (Mar. 13, 2000) [herein-
after ‘‘Second Skoby affidavit’’].
140 In re A Black Century Fire Safe, Case No. A–00–111M (W. D. Tex. Mar. 13, 2000) (affidavit
of Special Agent Clarke Skoby submitted in support of application for search warrant).
141 First Skoby affidavit, supra, at 1.
142 Id. at 3–4.
41
$2000 a WEEK. The majority of our current sales rep’s

[sic] are college or high [school] students.’’ 143
(b) Products
On his website, Sek advertised identification documents for the
following States: Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Connecticut, Geor-
gia, Hawaii, Kansas, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, New
Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsyl-
vania, South Dakota, Virginia, and Wyoming.144 Customers had a
choice of two types of identification cards: a PVC card which cost
$100, with an optional hologram for an additional $20, or a 3M
process card which cost $60. The PVC cards all bore State-specific
backings, while the 3M Process cards all used an identical backing.
(Sek did not offer holograms on the 3M Process cards.) 145
(c) Subcommittee Purchase
During its investigation, the Subcommittee purchased under-
cover a phony Oklahoma driver’s license from ‘‘The ID Shop’’ for
$100, using a false name and the photograph of Subcommittee In-
vestigator Kirk Walder. The fake license arrived approximately 3
weeks later in a plain white envelope with a return address of ID
Enterprises, located at a postal mail box in Austin, Texas. The doc-
ument itself appeared to be made of stiff, white plastic measuring
33⁄8 by 21⁄8 inches on which was printed the photograph of Investi-
gator Walder, along with a virtually identical representation of an
Oklahoma driver’s license, including the State seal, but omitting
the words ‘‘driver’s license’’ on its face. The document arrived en-
cased in a clear, flexible plastic pouch which was sealed on all four
sides, but not physically attached to the document. The pouch
measured 3 by 21⁄2 inches. Lining the inside walls of the pouch
were two clear plastic sheets on which were printed diagonally in
red ink ‘‘NOT A GOVERNMENT DOCUMENT’’ in approximately
20-point type and in capital letters. Investigator Walder was able
to remove the document from the pouch bearing this disclaimer,
however, simply by snipping open the pouch with a pair of scissors.
This removal process took no more than a few seconds.
(d) Disclaimer
As noted previously, Robert Sek took several calculated steps in
an effort to insulate himself from criminal liability. As part of the
ordering process, Sek’s customers had to sign a contract stating
that they
‘‘understand fully that this instrument (novelty ID) is not
representative of any State government affiliation, either
local, State, or Federal, and is not issued or endorsed by
any State or Federal Government agencies or depart-
ments.’’ 146
143 RobertSek, The ID Shop Job Openings http://www.theidshop.com.
144 FirstSkoby affidavit, supra, at 2.
145 See Hearing record, supra, at Exhibit 31; Robert Sek, The ID Shop (visited Dec. 21, 1999)
http://www.theidshop.com/products.htm.
146 See Hearing record, supra, at Exhibit 24 (Robert Sek, Ordering (visited Jan. 27, 2000)
http://www.theidshop.com/ordering).
42
Moreover, the customers had to promise ‘‘not [to] alter or deface

the ID in any way (from its’ [sic] original State when it was
mailed***).’’ 147 In addition, as described above, Sek packaged his
products in the laminated pouches described above bearing the
‘‘NOT A GOVERNMENT DOCUMENT’’ disclaimer. Sek also in-
cluded a disclaimer in approximately 2-point type on the back of
the identification cards themselves. This tiny disclaimer provided:
‘‘I, without reservation or restriction understand fully that
this instrument is not representative of any government
affiliation, either local or State, or Federal, and is not
issued or endorsed by any State or Federal Government
agencies or departments. I understand that this instru-
ment’s sole purpose is for novelty use only. I agree to ac-
cept complete responsibility for any fraudulent use of this
instrument as states in the original agreement between
myself and the manufacturer/vendor. The vendor does not
provide any warranties of merchantability for a particular
purpose of noninfringement. The vendor shall not be liable
under any theory or for any damages suffered by the bear-
er of this instrument. I further attest and affirm that my
signature on the front of this instrument serves as evi-
dence that I, the bearer/purchase, agree to the aforemen-
tioned agreement in its entirety.’’ 148
Each of these purported safeguards was easily circumvented. The
customer’s promise to behave appropriately, of course, provided no
guarantee that Sek’s customers would not misuse his products—
particularly since, as we have seen, the market for false identifica-
tion is apparently based upon their value in facilitating illicit activ-
ity. As described above, the plastic pouch bearing the disclaimer
was easily removed. In addition, the fine print disclaimer on the re-
verse side of the identification card is itself easily removable, per-
haps by design, as a message posted on an Internet discussion
board demonstrated:
‘‘OK, the IDShop sends their ID in a white envelope, ex-
actly as they describe on their Web page. When you open
this envelope, the ID has a laminated wrap, extending well
over the edge of the ID. It also has printed, NOT A GOV-
ERNMENT DOCUMENT printed across the lamination in
Red. This slip is easy to remove with a scissors, and takes
less than a minute. Next the ID itself has a paragraph on
the back explaining how the ID is not a government docu-
ment and cannot be used as such, etc. Now everybody is
telling you that this is hard to get rid of, but let me tell
you, from firsthand experience I simply took a tough eras-
er, one found on the back of a pencil would do fine, and
rubbed it tightly against the words. After a few mins, the
writing starts to fade and in less than 5 minutes the writ-
ing is completely gone.’’ 149
147 Id.
148 Id.
149 Id, supra, at Exhibit 10.
43
2. Brett Carreras: fakeid.net

(a) Business
Brett Carreras, a graduate of Loyola College in Baltimore, Mary-
land, was born in 1978. The Subcommittee’s investigation indicates
that Carreras registered the domain name fakeid.net on July 28,
1998. At that time, John DeMayo, a self-professed pioneer in the
Internet false identification business, began directing Internet
users to Carreras’ new site, as DeMayo claimed to be leaving the
false identification business.150 Carreras paid DeMayo a fee for
every thus-referred customer who purchased a product from
Carreras’s site. In late December 1999 or early January 2000,
Carreras bought an additional domain name, fake-id.com, from
DeMayo for $10,000. DeMayo estimated that Carreras earned be-
tween $5,000 and $10,000 per month from the website fakeid.net.
(DeMayo told the Subcommittee that fake-id.com was a popular
site and that he had received between 50 and 100 e-mail messages
each day before he sold the site to Carreras.) 151 Billing records ob-
tained by the Subcommittee indicate that, between mid-October
1999 and mid-December 1999, Carreras received 621 orders at his
fakeid.net website that generated roughly $8,239 in revenue.152
(b) Products
As a free service, fakeid.net offered low quality driver’s license
templates in a format compatible with Adobe Photoshop 153 for
all 50 U.S. States. However, the site offered ‘‘premium’’ templates
designed to be used with Adobe Photoshop, including an ‘‘ulti-
mate’’ New Jersey license, an ‘‘ultimate’’ Maine license, as well as
templates for Wisconsin, Utah, Ohio, Arizona, Connecticut, Michi-
gan, Idaho, Iowa, Louisiana, New York, and the Canadian province
of Saskatchewan. These ‘‘premium’’ templates 154 were available to
members for a monthly fee payable by credit card of $14.95.155
After the Subcommittee contacted Carreras, he modified the site,
advising visitors that the templates had been removed and that he
would not answer questions about them. It appears that Carreras
made this statement in an attempt to convince both the Sub-
committee and law enforcement that the premium templates,
which were the only revenue-earning portion of the website, had
been removed and that the website was out of business. In fact,
however, the templates were still accessible on the fakeid.net
website through a different series of links for several more months,
although many paying customers may have been unaware that the
templates were still available. Following customer complaints post-
150 Subcommittee staff telephone interview with John DeMayo (Mar. 30, 2000) [hereinafter
‘‘DeMayo interview’’].
151 Id.
152 Letter from Paul Kraaijvanger, Co-founder/Director, and Matt Walker, Controller, Verotel,
to Kirk Walder, Investigator, Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations (Jan. 6, 1999),
at 2.
153 Adobe Photoshop is graphic design software that allows users to edit and create images.
The software uses a system of layers, each containing a different portion of the image. Layers
allow users to overlay one portion of an image over another; for example, a signature can over-
lay a photograph. Users can also remove or hide layers. Users are able to edit almost all aspects
of an image, including color, size, and transparency, as well as add text.
154 These templates are layered, and therefore, able to be manipulated relatively easily using
software such as Adobe Photoshop.
155 Brett Carreras, States (visited Dec. 9, 1999) http://www.fakeid.net/states.
44
ed on the fakeid.net message board,156 Carreras posted information

on the message board informing regular customers of this ‘‘back
door’’ to the templates: ‘‘There are all types of members services
availiable [sic] to users who paid and were not able to download
the files. Go to members services, and click on all of the links. take
care.’’ 157
(c) Disclaimer
Initial access to Carreras’ website was through a page containing
the following advisory: ‘‘For my protection, and yours, you MUST
read the below disclaimer BEFORE entering. Thank You.’’ The ref-
erenced disclaimer is in a small box, and the only readily visible
portion of the text reads:
‘‘1. This page is to be used purely for reference/education/
novelty purposes.
2. I am at least 18 years of age, and realize that I am
individually responsible for my actions.
3. I understand that the act of downloading information
* * *.’’ 158
Although the viewer may scroll down the text to read it in its en-
tirety, it is not necessary to do so in order to gain access to the rest
of the website. Instead, the visitor may simply click on the fol-
lowing statement: ‘‘LET ME IN!’’ 159
(d) Related Websites
In February 2000 the Subcommittee discovered that the
fakeid.net web host was planning to introduce two new websites in
the near future: Illegalimmigrant.com and fake-id.com. Both do-
main names are registered to Carreras. Illegalimmigrant.com
would purportedly specialize in ‘‘identity documents such as pass-
ports, social security cards, green cards, SSN lists, generators,
prove-it cards, resident alien cards, birth cirtificates [sic] . . . and
many more!’’ 160 At fake-id.com, it was said,
‘‘professionals will create licenses from any State you
choose, based on our custom-made templates, These will be
the finest ID documents on the planet, and will be backed
by the professionalism of FakeID.Net!’’ 161
Notably, these ventures stand in sharp contrast to the information
posted on the ‘‘frequently asked questions’’ page of fakeid.net,
where it was claimed that
‘‘We do NOT sell IDs from this site, nor do we know of
places which sell IDs. Be wary of any site that says you
can buy an ID from them. No site on the internet is en-
dorsed by this site, or recommended by this site’s propri-
156 See e.g., Fake ID Net Message Board http://carreras.netldiscus (post by ‘‘Anonymous’’ on
Mar. 24, 2000; post by ‘‘Reaper’’ on Mar. 25, 2000).
157 Id. (post by ‘‘Webhost’’ on Mar. 27, 2000).
158 Brett Carreras, FakeID.Net (visited Dec. 17, 1999) http://www.fakeid.net/intro.htm.
159 Id.
160 Brett Carreras, Power Point Presentation (visited Feb. 15, 2000) http://carreras.net/wel-
come.
161 Id.
45
etors. Furthermore the proprietor of this site has NEVER

created a fake and/or novelty ID.’’ 162
Carreras declined to answer the Subcommittee’s questionnaire
after invoking his Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimi-
nation. In addition, at his Subcommittee deposition, Carreras in-
voked the Fifth Amendment in response to every question except
his name, date of birth, and current address.
(3) Tim Beachum: bestfakeids.com
(a) Business
Tim Beachum, who was born in 1969, registered bestfakeids.com
on May 25, 1999, using the company name Executive Computer
Designs, which is located in Virginia Beach, Virginia. As of May 19,
2000, the website was still active, but Beachum had changed some
of the content. By November 2000, however, the website appeared
to have been taken down.
On April 5, 2000, Beachum voluntarily submitted to a Sub-
committee deposition. Beachum testified that he established
bestfakeids.com with an unnamed friend after they had a discus-
sion about websites that sell novelty identification documents.163
Beachum had discovered that there were more than 100,000
webpages referring to the subject of false identification. Beachum
opined that, if there were that many websites pertaining to false
identification, there must be a market for the service.164 Through-
out his deposition, Beachum provided limited information and
changed some of the answers he had previously provided to the
Subcommittee during telephone interviews.
In addition to bestfakeids.com, Beachum owned ECD Inc., which
he said offered ‘‘electronic information’’ and ‘‘marketing products,’’
Payless Web Hosting, and Bulletproof Marketing, which Beachum
said were not yet operational.165 Beachum could or would not
break down the approximate monthly income that he receives from
each of his websites, although he estimated in his response to the
Subcommittee’s questionnaire that bestfakeids.com provided 90 per-
cent of his website revenue.166
(b) Products
The home page of bestfakeids.com contained a smaller version of
the same logo used by fakeidzone.com. The site promoted its sole
product—online access to a ‘‘fake id kit’’—as follows:
‘‘Novelty fake id’s are quickly becoming a big business on-
line. Although our competitors spend most of the time
claiming to have the best fake id’s, and slandering the
competitions [sic] name. We have decided to take a dif-
ferent approach and let our product speak for itself. We
sell 40+ kits a day—that’s almost 3 times what any other
fake id site sells. Here is why the all new and improved
162 Brett Carreras, Frequently Asked Questions (visited Dec. 17, 1999) http://www.fakeid.net/
faq.htm.
163 Beachum deposition, supra, at 26.
164 Id. at 44.
165 Id. at 16–20; see ECD Inc. http://www.ecdinc.com/mb/.
166 See Hearing record, supra, at Exhibit 17.
46
‘‘Best Fake ID’s’’ site out sells the competition 3 to 1: We

don’t sell novelty fake ids we show you how to create your
own using your home computer. We provide you with tem-
plates and step by step instructions on what you need to
create fake ids so real you could fool your own mother. As
a BONUS you will receive a super high quality birth cer-
tificate that can be printed in the privacy of your own
home. You will be given access to download 50+ templates
that you can use to create your own fake ids. Our tem-
plates consist of drivers license, gun license, back stage
passes, and much more. As of 12/1/1999 our collection of
templates has been totally updated. Templates are created
and added upon your request! (No other site on the Internet
offers this service). No shipping and handling . . . You will
be given instant access to your fake id kit, and your bonus
birth certificate as well as our online threaded message
board.’’ 167
Beachum supplemented the copy cited above with numerous illus-
trations of his products, as well as lengthy testimonials, complete
with photos, from what purported to be ‘‘satisfied customers.’’
(c) Subcommittee Purchase
The Subcommittee purchased undercover access to Beachum’s
‘‘kit’’ on February 9, 2000. The kit consisted of several scanned
State driver’s licenses from various States; templates for driver’s li-
censes from Wyoming, Alabama, and ‘‘Pureto [sic] Rico;’’ a press
pass template; a blank birth certificate from Victory Memorial Hos-
pital in Waukegan, Illinois; and two resident activity coordinator
certificate files.168 Despite the representation on his website, how-
ever, the kit did not contain a template for a gun license.
The driver’s license templates allowed an individual to produce
his own driver’s license by filling in the blanks. The Subcommittee
found that it would indeed be possible to produce credible driver’s
licenses from the templates on Beachum’s site.
The press pass template included space for an individual’s photo-
graph and personal information. It also bore a bar code and a back-
ground reflecting the legend ‘‘American Press Association.’’ 169
Beachum promoted the press pass on his website with testimonials
from three ‘‘satisfied customers’’ who had supposedly created press
passes for themselves using Beachum’s template, and then used
the passes to gain access to backstage areas at various events.
Under questioning during his deposition, Beachum admitted that
the testimonials were fictitious:
‘‘Q: What is that?
A: It’s a novelty testimonial page for the press pass.
Q: Okay. Are you familiar with the text?
A: Yes. Yes. It looks familiar.
Q: Is any of it true?
A: No.
Q: None of it’s true?
167 Beachum deposition, supra, at Exhibit 15.
168 See id. at Exhibits 16–20.
169 See id. at Ex’s. 8–11.
47
A: No.’’ 170
Beachum also claimed during his deposition that the press pass
template, like the other files in the kit, was not capable of pro-
ducing a physical press pass because he had ‘‘pixelated’’ 171 the
template so that when it was printed out, the image would be dis-
torted. The following exchange is excerpted from his Subcommittee
deposition:
‘‘Q: Do you think it’s possible for anyone to actually use
that, your press pass, to get into a concert?
A: No. For a fact, no.
Q: Why not?
A: Well, especially when I printed it, it’s too small. I
mean, you can’t manipulate that.
Q: That cannot be manipulated?
A: Not into a larger format, no.
Q: Again, why not?
A: It would become pixelated.’’ 172
Beachum’s claims that the template would become useless if actu-
ally printed, however, were false: The Subcommittee was easily
able to print a press pass that was not distorted.
The Subcommittee learned from officials at Victory Memorial
Hospital in Waukegan, Illinois, that the birth certificate Beachum
offered is an exact replica of a birth certificate format used by the
hospital before 1990.173 The birth certificate depicted a sketch of
the hospital and calligraphic text preceding blanks for the infant’s
name, the doctor’s name, and dates to be filled in by hand after
printing the certificate. The kit included a text file which offered
specific instructions on how best to replicate an authentic birth cer-
tificate from Victory Memorial Hospital, including the type of paper
on which to print the certificate, and what types of gold seals to
use. For example, the text notes that:
‘‘* The Administrators [sic] name during the era this cer-
tificate was issued was Donald Wasson. The Attending
Physician’s name was W. M. Smith.
* Donald Wasson’s signature is signed with a blue inked
fountain pen.
* All ohter [sic] handwriting is done in black ink with a
fine point pen (i.e. Bic).
***
‘‘Now in case you missed it, to the left and right of the pic-
ture of the hospital, are BLACK INKED FOOTPRINTS OF
AN INFANT. These foot prints of course are not on the
170 See id. at 91–92.
171 A pixel (from ‘‘picture element’’) is the basic unit of visual information on a computer dis-
play or in a computer image. The more pixels an image contains, the clearer the image will be,
and the higher the resolution is said to be. Images that contain few pixels, and thus less visual
information, tend to appear granulated when they are enlarged. Although Beachum never ex-
plained fully what he meant by ‘‘pixelated,’’ the Subcommittee understood him to mean that he
had lowered the resolution, and that the image would thus appear on screen, or in print, in
a granulated manner when enlarged.
172 Beachum deposition, supra, at Exhibits 86–88.
173 See Hearing record, supra, at Exhibit 7a.
48
scan (get you [sic] own damn baby!). The foot prints each
face inward toward the horizontal center of the document,
and lie adjacent to either horizontal side of the picture of
the hospital. Remeber [sic], the footprints face inward (as
in heel near the edge of the document, with toes closest to
the picture.’’ 174
Beachum testified that he intentionally corrupted the back-
ground of the birth certificate by adding a ‘‘digital watermark’’ 175
to the certificate file that would cause it to print in a distorted
manner, which he claimed would prevent customers from actually
using it. In the following dialogue excerpted from his Subcommittee
deposition, Beachum explained this purported distortion process:
‘‘Q: After receiving that certificate from that site, did you
make any changes or alterations—
A: No.
Q: —to the certificate?
A: Yes, yes, yes. I digitally encrypted the background of
the certificate.
Q: How did you do that?
A: I forget, but it’s a plug-in from Photo Shop that does
it.
Q: Why did you do that?
A: In case someone tried to increase the dpi, it would
pixelate the picture, the image.
Q: And the purpose of causing the picture to be pixelated
is what?
A: To keep someone from trying to pass it off as a real
thing.’’ 176
In addition, Beachum testified that the certificate had been
pixelated the entire time it was on his website:
‘‘Q: So for the entire time that that file has been on your
website and offered to customers on your website, it’s
had the distortion element you described?
A: Yes.’’ 177
The Subcommittee subsequently determined that Beachum’s testi-
mony was possibly perjurious, since the certificate files on the kit
which the Subcommittee had purchased undercover before
Beachum’s deposition generated actual hard copy documents that
did not bear a digital watermark. Computer experts consulted by
the Subcommittee confirmed that the certificate files had not been
altered in the fashion described by Beachum.
The kit included two activity coordinator certificate files, which
Beachum testified that he created by digitally scanning the original
certificates awarded to his mother.178 One certificate appeared to
be issued by Kent State University,179 while the other was purport-
175 A digital watermark is digital data embedded either visibly or invisibly into an image or
other type of digital document (film, photograph, etc.) which is designed to make counterfeiting
the document more difficult.
176 See Beachum deposition, supra, at 78–79.
177 See id.
178 Id. at 48.
179 See Hearing record, supra, at Exhibit 8a (Tim Beachum, Kent State University Certificate).
49
edly issued by the Ohio Health Care Association.180 Both certifi-

cates bore blanks for the user to record the name of the person who
had obtained the certificates, and the date on which the certificates
had been issued. Beachum’s site claimed that the completed certifi-
cates would enhance one’s ability to obtain employment as an activ-
ity coordinator, which the site described as a person who plans ac-
tivities for individuals in nursing homes or for pre-school children.
The site claimed that, in order to obtain a genuine certificate, an
individual must take a course costing ‘‘a thousand plus dollars.’’ 181
Despite these representations on his website, Beachum testified
that the activity coordinator certificate files were for ‘‘novelty’’ pur-
poses only. Beachum explained that the certificates were offered
only in ‘‘thumbnail’’ 182 format, and could not be downloaded in
their full sizes. In the following exchange, Beachum insisted that
if a customer were to download and enlarge the certificates, they
would be useless because they would be hopelessly distorted:
‘‘Q: Is it your testimony that those documents, Exhibits 3
and 4, then could not be made to look like authentic
documents?
A: No. No way they could be.
***
Q: Why not?
A: I intentionally corrupted the background of all the
documents so that they couldn’t be used.
Q: How did you corrupt the background of the docu-
ments?
A: I put a watermark, what is called a digital watermark
in the background to give the paper an intentional
crinkle or wrinkled look.
Q: So it is your testimony that is someone—well, maybe
you could explain for me, if someone tried to print out
these documents, what would happen?
A: It would have a distorted look, like—the background
of this has like a yellow tint to it and it’s a real dis-
torted look in the background. In my opinion, there’s
no way it would look authentic.
Q: How long have you had that distortion on these prod-
ucts?
A: Always.’’ 183
Despite these protestations, however, the Subcommittee success-
fully printed full-size certificates with the use of software such as
Adobe Photoshop. Thus, it appears as if Beachum may have
committed perjury during his deposition testimony in this respect
as well.
180 See id. at Exhibit 8b (Tim Beachum, Ohio Resident Activity Coordinator Training Project
Certificate of Attendance).
182 A thumbnail is a picture of a graphic image. Thumbnails do not contain enough pixels,
or picture information, to be enlarged or altered without significant distortion. Thumbnails are
only used to indicate what an image looks like, and are not layered templates as described ear-
lier.
183 See Beachum deposition, supra, at 70–71.
50
(d) Disclaimer
Until the Subcommittee contacted Beachum, his website con-
tained only the briefest of disclaimers:
‘‘Because our novelty fake id kit is distributed in a digital
format we do not of [sic] refunds. Our kit is sold as is. All
images found on this site is [sic] copyrighted and can not
be used by any other web site without the written consent
of Best Fake ID’s.’’ 184
After he first spoke with Subcommittee staff, Beachum expanded
his disclaimer to include the following:
‘‘The information contained in this website is strictly for
academic use alone. BEST FAKE ID’S will bear no respon-
sibility for any use otherwise. All information on this web
site is for entertainment and educational purposes
only.’’ 185
(4) Tim Catron: fakeidzone.com
(a) Business
Tim Catron is a Kansas resident who registered the domain
name fakeidzone.com on October 2, 1998, providing as contact in-
formation an address in the Philippines. At this website, Catron of-
fered a kit on a CD–ROM that he called ‘‘Fake ID Kit Ver. 2.0.’’
He told the Subcommitte that he was reselling this kit for Brett
Carreras.186 Catron also said that he had previously ‘‘partnered
up’’ with Carreras, the operator of fakeid.net, and Tim Beachum,
the operator of bestfakeids.com, but that he had recently ceased all
contact with those individuals.187 Catron sold the CD–ROM kit for
between approximately $19.95 and $39.95, payable by cash or
money order. For a 2-month period, however, Catron accepted pay-
ment by credit card. Billing records obtained by the Subcommittee
from his credit card processor indicate that, from November 1999
to January 2000, Catron earned $12,250 from 652 transactions.188
(b) Products
The CD–ROM disk that Catron marketed on his website con-
tained more than 100 templates for a wide variety of identification
documents, including driver’s licenses, Social Security cards, green
cards, and high school and college diplomas and transcripts, as well
as what Catron referred to as ‘‘novelty templates’’ for documents
such as a concealed weapons permit.189 Catron’s kit also included
‘‘step by step instructions on what you need to create fake ids so
real you could fool your own mother,’’ 190 as well as instructions for
making both ‘‘a fake drivers [sic] license’’ and a hologram for the
186 Subcommittee staff telephone interview with Tim Catron (Mar. 23, 2000).
187 Id.
188 Letter from Paul Kraaijvanger, Co-founder/Director, and Matt Walker, Controller, Verotel,
to Kirk Walder, Investigator, Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations (Jan. 6, 1999),
at 2.
190 See id.
51
driver’s license.191 In addition to such tools as a bar code generator

and a Social Security number verifier, the kit included instructions
on how to ‘‘get a New ID: Complete report shows you how to do
this by adopting the identity of a deceased child or infant.’’ 192 To
complete the kit, Catron sold paper designed for printing diplomas
and birth certificates.193
(c) Disclaimer
Catron posted the following disclaimer at the bottom of his home
page, in fine print:
‘‘Although our fake id kit gives you step by step instruc-
tions along with templates on how to produce realistic
looking fake drivers license, birth certificates, back stage
passes, and much more. It is only meant to be a novelty
item. Do not under any circumstances try to pass them for
the real thing. That would be illegal.’’ 194
In addition, Catron referenced the above disclaimer on his order
form, and requested that customers sign the order form as an ac-
knowledgment that they had read and understood the disclaimer.
Despite his novelty claim in the disclaimer, Catron refused to an-
swer the Subcommittee’s questionnaire by invoking his Fifth
Amendment privilege against self-incrimination. He also stated in
an affidavit that he would invoke the Fifth Amendment in response
to every question except his name and address if the Subcommittee
chose to depose him.195
(d) Other Online Activities
In January 2000, Catron attempted to sell his two websites,
fakeidzone.com and fakeid.cc,196 through an online auction at an of-
fering price of $5,000. He noted in the auction description that the
winning bidder would receive the domain names as well as the
graphics and designs for his sites. Catron explained that although
the site had been very profitable, he had decided to sell it in order
to dedicate time to other (unidentified) sites.197 Although it is not
clear whether Catron successfully sold the websites, it does appear
that he is no longer the owner of the domain names.
(5) Josh Dansereau: fake-ids.com
(a) Business
Josh Dansereau is a resident of Tallahassee, Florida, who was
born in 1979. He originally became involved in the false identifica-
tion business after he created a fake driver’s license for himself.198
In mid-April 1999, Dansereau registered the domain names fake-
191 Tim Catron, Fake ID Zone (visited Jan. 3, 2000) http://www.digitalhideout.com/
idkit.html.
192 Id.
193 See Tim Catron, Placing a Order [sic] (visited Jan. 5, 2000) http://www.
digitalhideout.com/cashorder.html.
195 See id. at Exhibit 18 (affidavit of Tim Catron, Apr. 21, 2000).
196 Subcommittee staff was unable to find evidence that fakeid.cc was ever operational.
197 See E-Bay http://www.ebay.com (description of auction item 244333201, posted Jan. 23,
2000).
198 Subcommittee staff telephone interview with Joshua Dansereau (Apr. 4, 2000) [hereinafter
‘‘Second Dansereau interview’’].
52
ids.com, fakeidshop.com, and fakeids.org. In mid-September 1999

he registered fakeidone.com and fakeid1.com.199 Dansereau used
these five websites, which were mirror sites containing the same
information, in an effort to gain more website traffic.200
Dansereau began selling false identification documents from
fakeids.com in June 1999. He sold approximately 10 to 12 false
identification documents per week at a price of approximately $30
to $35 each.201 Dansereau used a high speed computer and mon-
itor, a state of the art card printer, and a scanner to manufacture
these documents.202 Dansereau told the Subcommittee that he had
made a total of 100 to 200 false identification documents, and as
many as 50 in one peak month alone. Dansereau added that he had
earned a total of approximately $3,000 to $5,000.203 Lieutenant
Myers believes that Dansereau earned closer to $250,000 from his
false identification operation, and noted in his testimony during the
hearing that when his team searched Dansereau’s home, they
found 85 fake identification documents ready to be mailed to cus-
tomers. Lieutenant Myers noted that these 85 phony identification
documents represented approximately $7,000 in income for
Dansereau.204
(b) Products
Dansereau offered driver’s licenses from all U.S. States with the
exception of Florida.205 Lieutenant Myers described the cards as
high quality and noted that, of the 85 false identification docu-
ments his office confiscated from Dansereau, many were for older
adults from a variety of States, including Florida.206 On his
website, Dansereau described his products as
‘‘The best novelty fake ID’s you can buy. When held up to
real State ID’s, it’s hard to tell the difference! You can be
any age you want and you can be whomever you want. If
you’re looking for the most realistic fake ID’s you can buy
that will pass the book test, you have come to the right
place.’’ 207
Dansereau distinguished his false identification documents from
that of his competitors by noting that ‘‘all of are [sic] ID’s are the
new plastic credit card style, they come with a working magnetic
strip at no extra charge.’’ 208 In the ‘‘Frequently Asked Questions’’
section of the website, however, Dansereau acknowledged that the
199 Network Solutions http://www.networksolutions.com/whois/; see also Hearing record,
Exhibit 17 (Dansereau Questionnaire Response, at 1 (undated; returned to Senate Permanent
Subcommittee on Investigations, Mar. 27, 2000)).
200 Second Dansereau interview, supra.
201 David Myers, Draft Training Materials: Joshua Dansereau Case Report 3 (Nov. 12, 1999)
(unpublished report on file with Florida Division of Alcoholic Beverages and Tobacco Fraudulent
Identification Unit, Enforcement and Training) [hereinafter ‘‘Dansereau Case Report’’].
202 Dansereau Case Report, supra, at 3.
203 Second Dansereau interview, supra.
205 See Joshua Dansereau, Gallery (visited Jan. 3, 2000) http://www.freehosting2.at.
webjump.com/413a62646/fa/fakeids-org/gallery.htm.
207 Joshua Dansereau, Fake ID One Home Page (visited Jan. 3, 2000) http://www.
freehosting2.at.webjump.com/413a62646/fa/fakeids-org/gallery.htm.
208 Joshua Dansereau, Gallery (visited Jan. 3, 2000) http://www.freehosting2.at.
webjump.com/413a62646/fa/fakeids-org/gallery.htm.
53
magnetic strips were not actually functional.209 Dansereau accept-

ed cash and money orders for his products, and suggested that cus-
tomers wishing to pay with cash ‘‘wrap the money in a couple
pieces of paper or something.’’ 210
(c) Disclaimer
Dansereau posted a lengthy disclaimer in fine print on the door-
way page of his websites. The disclaimer was the same as that
which was posted on Robert Sek’s website, theidshop.com, see Sec-
tion III.A.(1)(d). In addition, Dansereau posted the following state-
ment on his home page:
‘‘Note: we are not recommending the use of the novelty ids
to purchase alcohol or tobacco. That is illegal. When you
purchase a novelty id. You assume all responsibility for
the misuse of the product.’’ 211
These disclaimers, however, did not prevent Dansereau’s prosecu-
tion by the State of Florida.
(d) Legal Situation
On November 12, 1999, Dansereau was charged with a felony for
violating a Florida State law prohibiting the falsification of identi-
fication cards or documents purporting to contain an applicant’s
age or date of birth.212 Dansereau pled guilty of the felony charge
and, pursuant to a pretrial intervention agreement,213 was sen-
tenced to serve a 6-month term of probation starting in January
2000. He also forfeited the equipment he used to manufacture the
false identification documents.214
Dansereau told the Subcommittee that he voluntarily shut down
his false identification websites in either January or February
2000,215 although one site, fakeid1.com, appeared still to be func-
tional as of April 2000. Dansereau swore in an affidavit to the Sub-
committee that when he shut down his false identification
websites, he began returning orders that he had received to poten-
tial customers without opening them.216 On February 4, 2000, as
part of the Subcommittee’s undercover operation, however, the
Subcommittee mailed to Dansereau an order for a fake Connecticut
driver’s license. Despite two e-mail messages sent to addresses
posted on Dansereau’s website inquiring about the order, the Sub-
committee did not receive the card and the money has not been re-
turned.
In July 2000, because the Florida Division of Alcoholic Beverages
and Tobacco Fraudulent Identification Unit (Florida ABT) sus-
pected that Dansereau was still involved in producing or promoting
false identification documents, his probation was extended until
209 Josh Dansereau, Frequently Asked Questions (visited Jan. 3, 2000) http://www.
freehosting2.at.webjump.com/462b02686/fa/fakeids-org/faqhelp.htm.
210 Id.
211 Josh Dansereau, Fake ID One Home Page (visited Jan. 3, 2000) http://www.
freehosting2.at.webjump.com/413a62646/fa/fakeids-org/gallery.htm.
212 See Florida Stat. ch. 877.18.
215 Telephone Interview with Joshua Dansereau (Mar. 17, 2000) [hereinafter ‘‘First Dansereau
interview’’].
216 See Hearing record, supra, at Exhibit 19 (affidavit of Joshua Dansereau, June 7, 2000).
54
August 2000. As part of its ongoing monitoring of false identifica-

tion on the Internet, Florida ABT determined that Dansereau had
not shut down fakeid1.com, despite his assurances to the Sub-
committee. Florida ABT then found that Dansereau had continued
cashing and depositing money orders and cashiers checks that he
received from individuals wishing to purchase false identification
from fakeid1.com. As a result, Dansereau was arrested and again
charged with a felony for violating Florida’s false identification
statute in August 2000.217 Dansereau pleaded no contest to one
count of failure to comply with requirements for sale of identifica-
tion on May 23, 2001.218 He was sentenced to a 3-year term of pro-
bation, ordered to pay $808 in court costs, and sentenced to per-
form 15 days of county work.219
B. The Buyers
(1) Thomas Seitz
(a) Legal Situation
Thomas Seitz, born in 1977, is a resident of New Jersey. In April
1999 local police in New Jersey arrested Seitz on charges of theft
by deception and presentation of false information after he pur-
chased a car on credit using an assumed identity. After pleading
guilty, he was convicted in New Jersey State court of one count of
theft by deception, two counts of forgery, and one count of uttering
forged instruments.220 Seitz was sentenced to a 3-year State term
of incarceration for these four felony convictions.221 On February
22, 2000, Seitz entered a plea of guilty to one count of bank fraud
in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida for the
same conduct that gave rise to the State charge. In June 2000,
Seitz was duly sentenced to a 7-month term of incarceration to be
served concurrently with his New Jersey State sentence, followed
by a 60-month term of supervised release.
(b) Internet Activities
In an interview with the Subcommittee, Seitz said that he is very
experienced with computers and the Internet. Seitz added that he
has been using computers since the sixth grade, that he has
worked as a computer network engineer, and that he was certified
in the use of Microsoft products.222
At the hearing, Seitz testified that he was looking at various
websites and discovered that he could obtain the names and Social
Security numbers of other people from the Internet. Seitz knew
that bank, credit, and tax information is tied often to an individ-
ual’s Social Security number,223 and that this information that can
217 Affidavit of Jeff Yonce, Special Agent, Florida Division of Alcoholic Beverages and Tobacco
Fraudulent Identification Unit, at 1–2 (Aug. 16, 2000) [hereinafter ‘‘Yonce affidavit’’].
219 Florida v. Joshua Dansereau, Case No. 00–3279 (Florida 2nd Judicial Circuit Court, May
23, 2001), and telephone interview with Special Agent Jeff Yonce, Florida Division of Alcoholic
Beverages and Tobacco Fraudulent Identification Unit (Dec. 1, 2000).
220 See New Jersey Stat. ANN. §§ 2C:1a(2),(3).
221 See New Jersey v. Thomas W. Seitz, Case No. 99–06–00613–1 (New Jersey Superior Court
Law Division, Sept. 27, 1999).
222 Subcommittee staff interview with Thomas Seitz at the Baker County Jail, Macclenny,
Florida (Apr. 6, 2000) [hereinafter ‘‘Seitz interview’’].
223 Seitz interview, supra.
55
be put to many uses, including identity theft. Accordingly, he found

names and Social Security numbers on the websites for Congress
and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). By using
search engines on the congressional website, Seitz was able to ac-
cess the Congressional Record, where he found names, Social Secu-
rity numbers, and military branches and ranks of members of the
United States military being considered for promotion.224 Seitz also
found names and Social Security numbers of many individuals in
the quarterly reports of publicly traded companies on the SEC’s
website. He focused his information-gathering efforts on at least
two individuals, Joseph A. Parisi and Richard D. Clasen, both of
California. He obtained these individuals’ addresses and telephone
numbers through online directories.225
Seitz then used Internet search engines to obtain information on
fake identification documents, including birth certificates, Social
Security cards, and driver’s license or identification cards. Seitz re-
called to the Subcommittee that while he was searching for false
identification materials that he could use in conjunction with the
personal information he had collected on Clasen and Parisi, he vis-
ited one site that posed the question: ‘‘Do you need a new identity?’’
Seitz downloaded templates including a birth certificate template
from three or four free sites. Although one website Seitz visited
stated that its products were for novelty purposes only, and an-
other posted a small disclaimer, Seitz testified that he ignored both
statements. Indeed, he wondered why anyone would put such tem-
plates on the web in the first place except in order to facilitate pre-
cisely the sort of illegal uses the disclaimers purported to dis-
claim—and for which he himself sought access to them. Seitz could
see, for instance, no legitimate ‘‘novelty’’ use for a false birth certifi-
cate.226
Seitz conducted these Internet searches at a local library in an
effort to avoid detection. He told the Subcommittee that he knew
that the Internet Protocol address of a computer that had been
used to visit a particular website could be traced. He explained,
however, that
‘‘I used the computer in a public library to conduct my
search. Dozens of people use the computers there every
day and they also do not necessarily keep logs of who is
using the computer. I had no fear of detection as I was
searching.’’ 227
Using the stolen personal identification data that he had ob-
tained from the SEC website, Seitz submitted 14 fraudulent car
loan applications to Nations Bank via the Internet, including appli-
cations in the names of Clasen and Parisi. Seitz sought to obtain
fraudulently a total of $540,000 in loan proceeds, but he received
224 Names, complete Social Security numbers, and military branch and rank information of
United States military officers under consideration for promotion were available through the
Congressional Record until 1995. Since 1996, most entries—and since 1997, apparently, all en-
tries—have contained only the last four digits of the Social Security number in addition to
name, rank, and military branch information.
226 Id., see also Hearing record, supra, at 16 (testimony of Thomas Seitz).
56
checks for only the two loans for which he had applied in the
names of Parisi and Clasen.
(c) Creating False Documents
After the loans were approved, Seitz used his home computer to
complete a fake New Jersey birth certificate template that he had
obtained from the Internet using the library computer. He made
two different birth certificates using the identities of Parisi and
Clasen, printing them on heavy green paper, but omitting the
raised seal that the certificates were supposed to contain. The en-
tire process took approximately 30 minutes. Seitz also obtained
blank W–2 forms from the Internal Revenues Service website, and
completed these documents using the stolen identities.
Seitz then used the counterfeit birth certificate to obtain an iden-
tification card in Parisi’s name at the New Jersey Department of
Motor Vehicles (DMV). He chose to obtain an identification card in-
stead of a driver’s license because he knew that only two pieces of
identification were required for an identification card, and that he
would not, in applying for one, have to wait long or take a driving
test. As he anticipated, the DMV issued Seitz an authorized identi-
fication card in Parisi’s name very quickly: It took about 30 min-
utes. Seitz also told the Subcommittee that DMV did not examine
the W–2 forms that he provided as additional support.228
Seitz attempted to use his false identification card in Parisi’s
name to buy a car at a dealership in North Brunswick, New Jersey,
but was unsuccessful because the dealership required an actual
driver’s license in order to make a purchase. Because Seitz did not
possess a driver’s license in Parisi’s name, he abandoned his at-
tempt to buy a car at that dealership.229 Instead, Seitz scanned his
New Jersey license into a computer, and used a software program
to change the identifying information to that of Richard Clasen.
This process took approximately 30 minutes. Seitz did not laminate
this card, but simply printed it and photocopied the printout.230
Armed with this merely photocopied driver’s license, Seitz went to
a different car dealership, located in the Township of Old Bridge,
New Jersey, and selected a new car to purchase. Seitz presented
to the dealership a photocopy of his altered driver’s license, and re-
cited aloud the Social Security number of an individual residing in
California that he had obtained from the Internet. The dealership
employees did not ask to see his W–2 forms or his birth certifi-
cate.231
Seitz was thus able to buy a car and drive it off the dealership
lot successfully because the dealership employees did not verify his
documents immediately. Although Seitz applied for, and received
loans from Nations Bank, he was also able to finance the car
through the dealership itself at a lower interest rate. New Jersey
police discovered Seitz’s crime in less than 2 weeks, however, be-
cause the number that Seitz inserted into the phony driver’s li-
cense he manufactured in Clasen’s name did not match an actual
229 Id.
230 Id.
231 Id.
57
New Jersey driver’s license number.232 As a result, Seitz’s fraudu-

lent scheme was exposed when the dealership submitted the phony
license number to the DMV to obtain the vehicle’s registration.
State police apprehended Seitz shortly thereafter.
(2) Thana Barlee
(a) Background
Thana Barlee entered a community college in Maryland after he
was expelled from George Washington University during his fresh-
man year in 1999 for manufacturing and selling counterfeit Maine
and New Jersey driver’s licenses in his dormitory room.
(b) Internet Activities
Barlee initially decided to create false identification documents in
September 1999, after he was turned away from a local nightclub
because he was not old enough to gain admission. Upon his return
to campus, he started searching the Internet and discovered a
wealth of information and resources related to false identification
materials. Barlee found free, layered templates and instructions on
a website operated by an individual whom he recalled as ‘‘Mo
Mann.’’ 233 Using these templates and such materials as reflective
paint, paper, and lamination packs that he bought for about $40
to $60 at an office supply store, Barlee was able to create a fake
driver’s license that same weekend. Although this first fake license
was sufficiently realistic to enable him to purchase alcohol at a
nearby liquor store, Barlee worked to perfect his techniques over
the next few weeks. He already owned a functional printer, but
with investment backing from several other students, he upgraded
to a higher-quality $600 printer, and bought a lamination machine
as well. Barlee also used the Internet to purchase additional sup-
plies for his operation, such as gold ink for making holograms.234
Barlee initially manufactured New Jersey driver’s licenses be-
cause the general consensus on Internet discussion boards was that
New Jersey licenses were the easiest to duplicate. The first week-
end that Barlee was in business he sold approximately 15 to 20
phony driver’s licenses to fellow students. He charged $20 to $100
for each license; the price he charged depended upon such factors
as whether he knew the buyer and how quickly the buyer wanted
the license. Barlee decided to diversify his manufacturing operation
to include Maine driver’s licenses because he thought it would look
suspicious for so many college students to present New Jersey driv-
er’s licenses to a bouncer at a night club. He chose to duplicate
Maine licenses because, like New Jersey licenses, they then had a
reputation for being among the easiest to replicate.235 With only
about 20 minutes of experimentation, Barlee produced a high qual-
ity Maine driver’s license.236
Barlee told the Subcommittee that he would not have manufac-
tured and sold false identification documents had it not been for
the ease with which the Internet enabled him to do so. On the ‘‘Mo
232 Id.
233 See http://yohello.freeyellow.com/index.html.
234 Barlee interview, supra.
235 Maine has since changed the appearance of its driver’s licenses.
236 Barlee interview, supra.
58
Mann’’ website, he found templates he could use to manufacture

phony driver’s licenses; step-by-step instructions for how to make
and improve the quality of false identification documents; and a list
of materials that he would need. Barlee saw the disclaimers on the
websites but ignored them because such disclaimers are common-
place on the Internet.237
C. Referrals
Following the hearing, the Subcommittee referred several of the
individuals and websites it investigated to proper law enforcement
agencies pursuant to Rule 19 of the Subcommittee’s rules of proce-
dure—which provides that when there is
‘‘reasonable cause to believe that a violation of law may
have occurred, the Chairman and Ranking Minority Mem-
ber by letter, or the Subcommittee by resolution, are au-
thorized to report such violation to the proper State, local
and/or Federal authorities.’’ 238
The individuals thus referred include Mike Burton, Josh Dan-
sereau, and the operators of NoveltyID4U.com and Phonyid.com—
all of whom accepted orders and payment from the Subcommittee
yet did not deliver a product. In addition, it is the Subcommittee’s
opinion that the activities of other individuals, including Robert
Sek, Brett Carreras, Tim Beachum, and Tim Catron, warrant fur-
ther investigation by law enforcement, as these individuals may
have violated United States law. The offenses these individuals
may have committed range from violations of § 1028 to perjury and
mail fraud.
Unfortunately, little has been done in terms of prosecutions, al-
though Josh Dansereau’s term of probation was extended after
Florida law enforcement learned that he had continued cashing
customers’ checks, including the Subcommittee’s. In addition, the
Fond du Lac, Wisconsin Police Department retrieved the $75 that
the Subcommittee had sent Mike Burton for a false driver’s license,
and fined Burton approximately $200. However, it appears that the
law at the time that Brett Carreras, Tim Catron, Tim Beachum,
Robert Sek, and other individuals were operating their websites
was not sufficient to prosecute them. With the exception of Brett
Carreras, the individuals appear to have closed their websites and
moved on to different ventures.
During the course of the Subcommittee investigation of false
identification websites and their operators, at least seven websites
closed down, including bestfakeids.com,239 fakeidzone.com,240 ulti-
mate-id.com,241 newid.ultramailweb.com,242 noveltyid4u.com,243 the
‘‘Fakeidman’’ message board, and promasteridcards.com. 244 In fact,
237 Id.
238 Rules of Procedure, for the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations of the Com-
mittee on Governmental Affairs as Adopted (March 8, 2001), S. Prt. 107–16 (March 2001), at
Rule 19.
239 Bestfakeids (last visited Nov. 30, 2000) http://www.bestfakeids.com.
240 Fake ID Zone (last visited Nov. 30, 2000) http://wwwfakeidzon.com.
241 Ultimate Id (last visited Nov. 30, 2000) http://www.ultimate-id.com.
242 New Identity Kit (last visited Nov. 30, 2000) http://www.newid.ultramailweb.com.
243 Novelty ID 4U (last visited Dec. 10, 1999) http://www.noveltyid4u.com.
244 Fakeidman (last visited Nov. 30, 2000) http://pages.eidosnet.co.uk/fakeidman.
59
hours after the hearing concluded, Promasteridcards.com posted

the following message on its website:
‘‘PromasterCards Ltd creased [sic] trading following the
outcome of the Senate Governmental Affairs Permanent
Subcommittee on Investigations on: ‘‘False ID’s and the
Internet’’ [sic] Any orders will be ‘‘returned to sender’’ 19th
May 2000.’’ 245
IV. Conclusion
A. General Services Administration Smart Card Technology for
Federal Facilities
In response to the results of the Subcommittee’s investigation,
coupled with recent terrorist assaults on the United States by indi-
viduals whose acts, and the preparation therefor, may have been
facilitated by false identification, and GAO’s findings that detail
the weaknesses of security measures at Federal facilities, the Sub-
committee has begun exploring methods of providing identification
that cannot be so readily counterfeited. This exploration led the
Subcommittee to the General Services Administration (GSA), which
is currently in the final stages of developing so-called ‘‘smart card’’
technology.
Smart cards are credit card sized cards that contain a micro-
processor. This computer chip is able to store, retrieve and process
a variety of information that may be used for security purposes, in-
cluding identification, entrance to buildings, and access to com-
puters. The smart card can allow use of a range of biometric meas-
urements for identification purposes, including fingerprints, hand
geometry, iris (eye) scan, face measurements, and voice verification.
Once an individual has enrolled his or her features, they are stored
in a template that may be verified when the individual presents
himself or herself at a security checkpoint. Smart cards can be
used for many military applications as well as Federal employment
applications such as equipment tracking, training updates, medical
information, and accounting functions, thus eliminating the need
for many different cards or forms. Smart cards may contain mag-
netic stripes, bar codes, and digitized photos.
At the request of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB),
GSA first began working on coordinating a government wide adop-
tion of smart cards in 1996. President Clinton’s Fiscal Year 1998
budget demonstrated the administration’s intention that every Fed-
eral employee be able to use a single card for building access, trav-
el, small purchases, and other purposes. At this time, OMB di-
rected GSA to work with Federal agencies, including the Depart-
ment of Treasury and the Department of Defense, to develop a
smart card. The GSA team responsible for this project met with
representatives from industry and government agencies, then
began conducting a pilot program within GSA and other agencies.
On May 19, 2000, GSA awarded a Common Access ID Contract
worth a total of $1.5 billion over 10 years to five firms. Several
Federal agencies have expressed interest in the smart card, includ-
ing the Veterans Administration, the Department of State, and the
245 Promaster Cards (last visited May 19, 2000) http://www.promastidcards.mcmail.com.
60
Department of Defense, which has stated that it intends to use

smart card technology for both military and civilian identification
purposes.
One of the smart card’s main strengths is its government-wide
interoperability. It is GSA’s intention that the cards be accepted at
any participating Federal facility, so that, for example, cards issued
by the Department of Defense will be compatible with the security
measures at the Department of State. This should eliminate much
of the confusion and potential for counterfeiting that stems from
the multitude of cards used by Federal agencies, which has been
highlighted by GAO’s recent undercover operations. GSA’s smart
card incorporates cryptographic and biometric technology to encode
an individual’s information in a computer chip.
B. Law Enforcement’s Response to Crimes Using False Identifica-
tion
It is impossible to quantify the criminal activities that have been
committed using false identification documents obtained via the
Internet. The Subcommittee met with officials from the FBI, the
U.S. Secret Service, the Social Security Administration, and var-
ious State law enforcement agencies. These officials indicated that,
when they encounter cases involving false identification documents,
they usually do not investigate the source of the documents, and
frequently do not prosecute the false-identity crime itself because
they concentrate instead on the offense that resulted from the use
of the counterfeit documents. Director Stafford acknowledged that
investigating the source of false identification is not the Secret
Service’s primary tactic in curbing the use of false identification:
‘‘We do not monitor specifically for false identification. We
feel that we prioritize and focus our investigations pri-
marily on crimes that involve false identification, primarily
our core violations. We feel that through prioritizing,
through addressing large dollar amount, high-impact cases
that affect our community, whether it be credit cards or
bank fraud or bank loans, all of which possess some form
of counterfeit or fraudulent identification, that we can
make an impact even with our limited funding and re-
sources in this area.’’ 246
Moreover, anecdotal evidence exists indicating that the Internet
has become a significant source of the false identification docu-
ments that are used illegally. Lieutenant Myers estimated that
about 30 percent of the fraudulent identification documents that he
reviewed in 2000 had been created via the Internet.247 This figure,
he said, had risen from slightly less than 1 percent in 1998, and
approximately 5 percent in 1999. In addition, Lieutenant Myers
testified that he expects that 60 to 70 percent of the false identi-
fication documents that his office will seize in 2001 will have come
from the Internet.248 (This includes identification documents pro-
246 Id.,at 27 (testimony of Director Stafford).
247 Subcommittee staff interview with David Myers, Lead Fraud Investigator, Division of Alco-
holic Beverages and Tobacco, State of Florida, in Jacksonville, Florida (Apr. 7, 2000) [hereinafter
‘‘Myers interview’’].
61
duced by website operators and identification documents produced

through files transmitted over the Internet.)
As shown by the case study of Thomas Seitz, explained in Sec-
tion III.B.(1), individuals seeking false identification to further
criminal activities are increasingly likely to use the Internet to ob-
tain false identification documents. In fact, Seitz testified that were
it not for the ease of the Internet, he may not have searched for
another source of false identification, adding, ‘‘I do not know any
other places to go to get fake identification as good as on the Inter-
net.’’ 249
It is vital that law enforcement focus its attention on this serious
and growing problem, and in particular make every effort to curb
the manufacture and distribution of false identification documents
because, as K. Lee Blalack, II, then-Chief Counsel and Staff Direc-
tor of the Subcommittee, testified:
‘‘the distribution of these counterfeit identification mate-
rials is growing because of the expanding technology of the
Internet. This new technology could very well result in a
flood of phony identification documents and counterfeit
credentials if steps are not taken to curb this emerging
problem. It will be no easy task to maintain the integrity
of the identification documents on which both the govern-
ment and the private sector rely.’’ 250
C. Implementing New Legislation
It is the Subcommittee’s hope that the Internet False Identifica-
tion Prevention Act of 2000, as well the Subcommittee’s hearing,
will focus attention on this emerging problem. Indeed, focusing at-
tention upon this industry can itself help impede its operations.
Lieutenant Myers testified at the Subcommittee’s hearing, for ex-
ample, that
‘‘Probably the biggest impact that we have had on the
Internet as I monitor it and have for many years is the
work done by your own Subcommittee’s investigators. They
had a dramatic impact on those on the Internet. Not even
knowing their investigation was going on, I could see that
the activity on the Internet as it related to false ID was
going through some changes.’’ 251
Welcome though it is, however, such dissuasion through scrutiny
and public attention is far from enough. The Internet False Identi-
fication Prevention Act of 2000 should help arm law enforcement
officials with the tools needed to curb the manufacture and dis-
tribution of false identification documents over the Internet. Dili-
gent efforts by the U.S. law enforcement community to employ
these tools are now needed. As then-Chairman Collins noted during
the Subcommittee’s hearing:
‘‘One of the troubling findings of this investigation is that
law enforcement officials, perhaps understandably, have
focused on the crime committed with the phony IDs, but
249 Id. at 18 (testimony of Thomas Seitz).
250 Id. at 12 (testimony of K. Lee Blalack, II).
251 Hearing record, at 21–22 (testimony of Lieutenant Myers).
62
if we could somehow crack down on the manufacture and

marketing of those IDs, some of the subsequent crimes
would never be committed.’’ 252
Through aggressive law enforcement activity, and continued Con-
gressional attention and oversight, the Subcommittee hopes and
anticipates that it will be possible dramatically to decrease the
number of crimes committed using false documents.
The following Senators, who are Members of the Permanent Sub-
committee on Investigations, have approved this report:
Carl Levin Susan M. Collins
Daniel K. Akaka Ted Stevens
Richard J. Durbin George V. Voinovich
Robert G. Torricelli Pete V. Domenici
Max Cleland Thad Cochran
Thomas R. Carper Robert F. Bennett
Jean Carnahan Jim Bunning
Mark Dayton
Other Senators, who are Members of the Committee on Govern-
mental Affairs, approving this report are:
Senator Lieberman Fred Thompson
252 Hearing record, at 27 (statement by Senator Collins).

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1

107th Congress REPORT

PHONY IDENTIFICATION AND CREDENTIALS

COMMITTEE ON GOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS

FEBRUARY 4, 2002.—Ordered to be printed

U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE

PERMANENT SUBCOMMITTEE ON INVESTIGATIONS

Executive Summary ................................................................................................. 1

that there are a myriad of websites offering false identification ma-

down by the authorities.’’ Another website operator informed his

Moreover, it is becoming even easier to obtain and create false

vestigate further the activities of several individuals involved with

gines, examining the links on websites, and reviewing messages

The identification materials the Subcommittee received took dif-

Table 2—Revenues/Orders of Websites Offering False Identification Materials

The ID Shop/Robert Sek ................................................ 11/30/99–2/00 11/30/99–2/00 $1,000,000 a 21,000 a

a Estimates from law enforcement reports.

B. Methods of Using the Internet to Find False Identification Ma-

thus routinely search for information using ‘‘search engines,’’ 11 pro-

on October 2, 1997. This site reportedly contained a variety of tem-

States, which is stolen or produced without lawful au-

Under § 1028, the courts have looked to statutory language, past

‘‘I am more convinced than ever that we need a crack-

tion document, false identification document, or document-making

26 Id. at 21–22 (testimony of Lieutenant Myers).

(1) Some Websites Offer False Identification Information and

uals, and can be transmitted easily via computer disk, or virtually

Kit (visited Dec. 10, 1999) http://www.newid.ultramailweb.com.

that replicates a driver’s license number that corresponds to the

(c) ‘‘Breeder’’ Documents

photoidcards.com offers customers the opportunity to ‘‘[d]isappear

‘‘This site has the best id cards. Just got my id with

holograms, working magnetic strips, and markings that appear

Beachum acknowledged under cross-examination that he also used

Many websites purport to sell ‘‘novelty’’ or ‘‘fun’’ products despite

‘‘I frequently came across disclaimers on the individual

card is in no way affiliated or associated with any government enti-

To be sure, there are true novelty identification sites on the

offered do not bear disclaimers within the parameters of the stat-

most instantaneously, increasing the advantages of such trans-

forcement. Bruce Schneider, Chief Technology Officer at Counter-

duct on the Internet, at 20 (Mar. 9, 2000).

(2) Website Operators Disguise Their Names and Locations

by money order.’’ He suggests that this safeguard will help protect

next few months we expect to be shut down again but we

Id without a Holo then you’re gonna be [deleted] cause u

credentials ‘‘for novelty purposes only,’’ as the website operators

a job as a sales representative. The Subcommittee examined Cas-

two of the individuals are alleged to have obtained driver’s licenses

gerously convincing identification cards and credentials.136 (This

$2000 a WEEK. The majority of our current sales rep’s

Moreover, the customers had to promise ‘‘not [to] alter or deface

2. Brett Carreras: fakeid.net

ed on the fakeid.net message board,156 Carreras posted information

etors. Furthermore the proprietor of this site has NEVER

‘‘Best Fake ID’s’’ site out sells the competition 3 to 1: We

173 See Hearing record, supra, at Exhibit 7a.

edly issued by the Ohio Health Care Association.180 Both certifi-

driver’s license.191 In addition to such tools as a bar code generator