[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 99 (Wednesday, July 26, 2000)]
[Senate]
[Pages S7663-S7664]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Ms. COLLINS (for herself, Mr. Durbin, and Mrs. Feinstein):
  S. 2924. A bill to strengthen the enforcement of Federal statutes 
relating to false identification, and for other purposes; to the 
Committee on the Judiciary.


        the internet false identification prevention act of 2000

  Ms. COLLINS. Mr. President, today, along with my colleague from 
Illinois, Senator Durbin, I am introducing legislation to stem the 
proliferation of web sites that distribute counterfeit identification 
documents and credentials over the Internet.
  In May, the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, which I 
chair, held hearings on a disturbing new trend--the use of the Internet 
to manufacture and market counterfeit identification documents and 
credentials. Our investigation revealed the widespread availability on 
the Internet of a variety of fake ID documents or computer templates 
that allow individuals to manufacture authentic looking IDs in the 
seclusion of their own homes.
  The Internet False Identification Prevention Act of 2000 will 
strengthen current law to prevent the distribution of false 
identification documents over the Internet and make it easier for 
Federal officials to prosecute this criminal activity.
  The high quality of the counterfeit identification documents that can 
be obtained via the Internet is simply astounding. With very little 
difficulty, my staff was able to use Internet materials to manufacture 
convincing IDs that would allow me to pass as a member of our Armed 
Forces, as a reporter, as a student at Boston University, or as a 
licensed driver in Florida, Michigan, and Wyoming--to name just a few 
of the identities that I could assume, using these phony IDs. We found 
it was very easy to manufacture IDs that were indistinguishable from 
the real documents.
  For example, using the Internet, my staff created this counterfeit 
Connecticut driver's license, which is virtually identical to an 
authentic license issued by the Connecticut Department of Motor 
Vehicles. Just like the real Connecticut license, this fake with my 
picture on it, includes a signature written over the picture--which is 
supposed to be a security feature. It includes an adjacent ``shadow 
picture,'' and it includes the bar code and the State seal for the 
State of Connecticut.
  Each of these sophisticated features was added to the license by the 
State of Connecticut in order to make it more difficult to counterfeit. 
Yet the Internet scam artists have been able to keep up with the 
technology, and every time a State adds another security feature it has 
been easily duplicated.
  Unfortunately, some web sites sell fake IDs complete with State 
seals, holograms, and bar codes to replicate a license virtually 
indistinguishable from the real thing. Thus, technology now allows web 
site operators to copy authentic IDs with an extraordinary level of 
sophistication and then distribute and mass produce these fraudulent 
documents for their customers.
  The web sites investigated by my subcommittee offered a vast and 
varied product line, ranging from the driver's licenses that I already 
showed to military identification cards to Federal agency credentials, 
including those of the FBI and the CIA.
  Other sites offered to produce Social Security cards, birth 
certificates, diplomas, and press credentials. In short, one can find 
almost any kind of identification document that one wants on the 
Internet.
  The General Accounting Office and the FBI have both confirmed the 
findings of the subcommittee's investigation of this dangerous new 
trend. The GAO used counterfeit credentials and badges readily 
available for purchase via the Internet to breach the security at 19 
Federal buildings and two commercial airports. GAO's success in doing 
so demonstrates that the Internet and computer technology allow

[[Page S7664]]

nearly anyone to create convincing identification cards and 
credentials.
  The FBI has also focused on the potential of misuse of official 
identification, and just last month executive search warrants at the 
homes of several individuals who had been selling Federal law 
enforcement badges over the Internet.
  Obviously, this is very serious. It allows someone to use a law 
enforcement badge to gain access to secure areas and perhaps to commit 
harm. For example, the FBI is investigating a very disturbing incident 
where someone allegedly displayed phony FBI credentials to gain access 
to an individual's hotel room and then allegedly later kidnaped and 
murdered that individual.
  The Internet is a revolutionary tool of commerce and communications 
that benefits us all, but many of the Internet's greatest attributes 
also further its use for criminal purposes. While the manufacture of 
false IDs by criminals is certainly nothing new, the Internet allows 
those specializing in the sale of counterfeit IDs to reach a far 
broader market of potential buyers than they ever could by standing on 
the street corner in a shady part of town. They can sell their products 
with virtual anonymity through the use of e-mail services and free web 
hosting services and by providing false information when registering 
their domain names. Similarly, the Internet allows criminals to obtain 
fake IDs in the privacy of their own homes, substantially diminishing 
the risk of apprehension that attends purchasing counterfeit documents 
on the street.
  Because this is a relatively new phenomenon, there are no good data 
on the size of the false ID industry or the growth it has experienced 
as a result of the Internet, but the testimony at our hearing indicates 
that the Internet is increasingly becoming the source of choice for 
criminals to obtain false IDs.
  The subcommittee's investigation found that some web site operators 
apparently have made hundreds of thousands of dollars through the sale 
of phony identification documents. One web site operator told a State 
law enforcement official that he sold approximately 1,000 fake IDs each 
month and generated about $600,000 in annual sales.
  Identify theft is a growing problem that these Internet sites 
facilitate. Fake IDs, however, also facilitate a broad array of 
criminal conduct. We found that some Internet sites were used to obtain 
counterfeit identification documents for the purpose of committing 
other crimes, ranging from very serious offenses, such as identify 
theft and bank fraud, ranging to the more common problem of teenagers 
using phony IDs to buy alcohol.
  The legislation which Senator Durbin and I are introducing today is 
designed to address the problem of counterfeit IDs in several ways. The 
central features of our legislation are provisions that modernize 
existing law to address the widespread availability of false 
identification documents on the Internet.
  First, the legislation supplements current Federal law against false 
identification to modernize it for the Internet age. The primary law 
prohibiting the use and distribution of false identification documents 
was enacted in 1982. Advances in computer technology and the use of the 
Internet have rendered that law inadequate. This bill will clarify that 
the current law prohibits the sale or distribution of false 
identification documents through computer files and templates which our 
investigation found are the vehicles of choice for manufacturing false 
IDs in the Internet age.
  Second, the legislation will make it easier to prosecute those 
criminals who manufacture, distribute, or sell counterfeit 
identification documents by ending the practices of easily removable 
disclaimers as part of an attempt to shield the illegal conduct from 
prosecution through a bogus claim of novelty.
  What we found is that a lot of these web sites have these 
disclaimers, in an attempt to get around the law, saying that these can 
only be used for entertainment or novelty purposes. No longer will it 
be acceptable to provide computer templates of government-issued 
identification cards containing an easily removable layer saying it is 
not a government document.
  I will give an example. this is a driver's license from Oklahoma. It 
is a fake ID which my staff obtained via the Internet. It is enclosed 
in a plastic pouch that says ``Not a Government Document'' in red print 
across it, but it was very easily removed. All one had to do, with a 
snip of the scissors, was cut the pouch, and then the ID is easily 
removed and the disclaimer is gone. That is the kind of technique that 
a lot of times these web site operators use to get around the letter of 
the law. Under my bill, it will no longer be acceptable to sell a false 
identification document in this fashion.
  Finally, my legislation seeks to encourage more aggressive law 
enforcement by dedicating investigative and prosecutorial resources to 
this emerging problem. The bill establishes a multiagency task force 
that will concentrate the investigative and prosecutorial resources of 
several agencies with responsibility for enforcing laws that 
criminalize the manufacture, sale, and distribution of counterfeit 
identification documents.
  Our investigation established that Federal law enforcement officials 
have not devoted the necessary resources and attention to this serious 
problem. by prosecuting the purveyors of false identification 
materials, I believe that ultimately we can reduce end-use crime that 
often depends on the availability of counterfeit identification. For 
example, the convicted felon who testified at our hearings said that he 
would not have been able to commit bank fraud had he not been able to 
easily and quickly obtain high-quality fraudulent identification 
documents via the Internet. I am confident that if Federal law 
enforcement officials prosecute the most blatant violation of the law, 
the false ID industry on the Internet will wither in short order.
  By strengthening the law and by focusing our prosecutorial efforts, I 
believe we can curb the widespread availability of false IDs that the 
Internet facilitates. The Director of the U.S. Secret Service testified 
at our hearing that the use of such fraudulent documents and 
credentials almost always accompanies the serious financial crimes they 
investigate. Thus, my hope is that the legislation we are introducing 
today will produce a stronger law that will help deter and prevent 
criminal activity, not only in the manufacture of false IDs but in 
other areas as well.
                                 ______