Crimes Selling Fake IDs Continue on SNS
"Police Crackdown Impossible" Ads...But Computer Verification Is Actually Possible
Police: "Verification Possible via Computer Data Regardless of New or Old Models"
Recently, crimes involving the creation and sale of forged identification cards and private documents such as driver's licenses and bankbooks have been rampant, especially on social networking services (SNS). There are also signs of identity theft where others' names are used to forge IDs, raising concerns about the spread of related crimes.
On the 10th, searching for 'ID forgery' on social networking services (SNS) yielded hundreds of accounts of forgery operators. When contacting one of these operators to request a driver's license, the operator demanded a fee of 1.3 million KRW.
The operator also explained the forgery methods in detail. They mentioned that with only two methods?using old-style licenses issued before 2019 and identity theft?it is possible to evade crackdowns. New-style licenses issued since 2019 are equipped with enhanced anti-counterfeiting and tampering features.
The operator claimed that for old-style licenses, even if the police input the license information into a portable terminal during a crackdown, the owner's ID photo and personal details do not appear. They hinted that if a broker overlays the client's ID photo onto someone else's name, the police have no way to verify the identity, so it won't be caught during crackdowns. They also demanded an additional 300,000 KRW if identity theft was desired.
This forgery method is not valid. It is clearly a fraud. A police official stated, "Regardless of whether the license is new or old, entering the license number on the driver's license allows verification of the registered license holder's personal details, photo information, and even criminal records in the system." They added, "Recently, even without holding a license, crackdowns are possible by searching just the resident registration number, so such forgery methods are completely disconnected from the actual enforcement system."
A counterfeit document seller is explaining samples of a forged bankbook and TOEIC score certificate. [Photo by Lee Ji-eun]
There were also operators who forged documents to closely resemble official documents, although they cannot be used at government offices. One operator said, "We forge passports and bankbooks for 1 million KRW and 800,000 KRW respectively," adding, "We will imprint the information the client wants onto the passport and bankbook covers brought by brokers."
The forged bankbook photo presented as a sample by this operator was so similar to the real thing that it was difficult to determine authenticity with the naked eye. This greatly increases the potential for misuse during identity verification processes.
Under current law, forgery of official documents can result in imprisonment of up to 10 years, while forgery of private documents can lead to imprisonment of up to 5 years or a fine of up to 10 million KRW. If forged documents are actually used, charges of forgery and use of forged official documents may also apply.
Cases of document forgery have been increasing every year. In 2022, the number of official and private document forgery cases detected by the police were 1,999 and 7,033 respectively, increasing by 457 and 119 cases compared to the previous year. A police official explained, "There have been no reports yet of additional crimes committed using forged IDs issued online," adding, "Investigations can only proceed once damage reports are received."
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