Fake IDs: Still Possible?

I sauntered into a dark, smoky bar, and was soon approached by a tall, dark, mysterious man. "Tam?" he asked. I gave him a perplexing look back. "No, Becky," I replied. He laughed, "No, Tam - Techniques of Alcohol Management. Are you here for the class, Becky?"

I supposed I should explain that, while the bar was dark and smoky, it was a sunny Monday morning and no one in the bar was drinking anything other than orange juice and Coke. And the mysterious man? Not so mysterious after all. He was a 62-year-old TAM instructor who lives on a farm in Pennsylvania and likes to say the word "okay" after every explanation. What put me in this under-lit bar on a Monday Morning? Mainly, I needed my alcohol license for work; but I can't lie. I do find techniques on how to spot bogus IDs and how to kick drunk people out of bars interesting, even though most of the people I serve liquor to at the country club are old and only get drunk when their hired drivers are waiting outside with the Lincoln already warmed up for them. In addition, the state requires that I have this license if I must serve alcohol to said Rockefellers.

As college students, most of us have been regaled by stories about how easy it is to get arrested for having a fake ID. Conversely, most of us have heard from peers how much alcohol we can buy with fake IDs. The truth is, however, that Maryland is making it harder to replicate these wonders by way of security codes. For example, if you have a new Maryland Driver's License, you can shine a black light over it and see just one of the security codes. If you have a microscope, or a tool used by TAM, you can see that the little red lines on your license are not just little red lines, but are actually microscopic letters that spell out, "MARYLAND VEHICAL ADMINISTRATION."

What does this mean for hackers? It is getting more difficult for people to pull off the fake ID; however, they are still trying. While Maryland licenses are becoming more difficult to replicate, many other states are behind in making the security code updates; these states' licenses are easier to duplicate.

TAM has thought of a solution for this, as well; they offer a book that displays all the states' licenses and their security codes What does this mean for us? If you are not 21 and you, therefore, do not have a valid ID, do not even try to duplicate one.