11, state-issued identifications cards - principally drivers licenses - drew much attention from security experts as a systematic weakness. They keep pinging away, looking for the soft underbelly of the security procedure.” Criminals often probe security controls several times until they find the right formula for success. The test was very realistic, said Douglas, whose American Privacy Consultants firm advises banks and other financial institutions on identity theft. “That means there is no risk to the person trying to obtain the false drivers license.” “The shocking thing is most states picked up they were forged documents but never did anything about it,” he said. While agents did have initial trouble getting their fake licenses on their first try, Douglas said that’s even more cause for concern. Other locations that ultimately failed the GAO test: Washington D.C., South Carolina, Arizona, Michigan, and New York. The agent simply said he’d lost the first license, and the DMV clerk issued a second California license “without questioning the story further.” 21, using the same name but a fake Texas license, he got a California license again, even after the clerk noticed the agent had received a temporary license the day before. 20 of last year, the agent supplied a fake out-of-state West Virginia license as verification of identity and managed to get the California license. Max Baucus, D-Montana, said he was surprised by the lack of vigilance by motor vehicle agencies.Īnd perhaps more troubling, that undercover agent had already received a temporary license a day earlier from a different location, using the same name. Given heightened security concerns since the Sept. On third visit, armed with a utility bill, the agent got a license. But again, the fake documents were returned to the agent - in direct violation of a Maryland DMV policy which tells workers there to confiscate such documents and send a Teletype within 15 minutes alerting all state offices of the suspicious transaction, the GAO report says.Ī week later, agents were turned down again by a Maryland DMV because employees there said the agent didn’t have the required documents to establish Maryland residency. On first attempt, the DMV clerk noticed the fake birth certificate did not include a state or county seal, and the texture of the paper was suspicious. Getting a Maryland license proved a bit trickier, but agents were able to beat the system there on their third DMV visit. Six days later, the same agent went to another motor vehicle office with a new set of paperwork, making sure the birthdays matched. The clerk handed the paperwork back to the agent and “apologized for being unable to assist him,” according to the report. In Virginia, the first state tested, an undercover agent was at first turned away because the birth date on the fake birth certificate didn’t match the birthday associated with the fraudulent social security number. So the agents merely left the motor vehicle office, addressed the problems, and re-applied - often on the same day - with success. But the fake paperwork was never confiscated and law enforcement officials were never notified. In many of the eight locations, investigators were initially turned away by motor vehicle employees who initially spotted problems with the applicants’ documents.
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