A New Generation of ‘Unbeatable’ Fake IDs Is Bedeviling Bouncers

The bar on Avenue A was already packed when a New York University junior joined the door line on a recent Friday night in the East Village.

Outside, a stern bouncer scrutinized each person’s driver’s license to keep out underage drinkers like this 20-year-old. Inside, patrons piled their coats onto stools, clamored for drinks, then danced in tight scrums as they held their cups protectively aloft.

The junior stepped up to the bouncer with confidence and handed over a convincing-looking license.

Scoring a fake ID has been a rite of passage for generations of underage New Yorkers eager to join the bar scene. Often this meant handing over cash for some laminated product slapped together by amateurs in a dorm room or head shop.

But constant upgrades to license designs mean that shoddy fakes no longer cut it, and a new breed of counterfeiters is serving the underage drinking market. Their products, which can reap millions for them, include holograms, bar codes and laser engraving that can fool the electronic scanners bar owners now deploy.

Counterfeiters set up websites that list convincing replicas by state and take payment in cryptocurrency. The dead-on fakes are created with sophisticated equipment and materials that sellers promise will pass muster with eagle-eyed staffers at bars, not to mention marijuana dispensaries.

“They are unbeatable,” said Martin Sheil, 62, who owns the Josie Woods Pub in Greenwich Village.

The sites hawk their wares with scientific specificity: microprinting in dots per inch, card thickness in micrometers (polycarbonate stock for that stiff, authentic feel) and various types of laminates. There are security enhancements like imprints, embedded data chips, ultraviolet features, coded magnetic strips and state-of-the-art engraved printing.

The card used by the barhopping N.Y.U. student looked the part, with a bar code and hologram. The bouncer inspected it and waved her inside along with her friend, also a 20-year-old junior who was using a real ID that belonged to an older friend. The students tucked the IDs back in their purses and hit the bar for vodka-and-sodas.

They broke into grins. The night was a success already.

Making, selling and using fake IDs is illegal, but many counterfeiters dodge U.S. laws by being based overseas. They buffer themselves and their customers by allowing payment with cryptocurrency and gift cards.

Buyers provide the headshots and the information they want printed. The cards are shipped in boxes disguised as other products; federal customs officers say they seize thousands a year, with an uptick when college semesters start.

Late last month, officers at Chicago O’Hare International Airport confiscated 984 counterfeit licenses in less than a week concealed in laptop chargers, jewelry boxes and plastic mirrors, said Steve Bansbach, a federal Customs and Border Protection spokesman.

More worrisome than underage drinking, he said, was the possibility that the cards could be used for identity theft and human trafficking.

Some fake IDs are still domestic products. On Feb. 5, James Watt of Indianapolis was sentenced to three years’ probation after pleading guilty to making more than 30,000 fake driver’s licenses that were sold through a website with the tag line “Your #1 Trusted Source for Fake IDs,” according to federal officials.

The site’s owners paid more than 14 Bitcoin — worth roughly $1.3 million — to Mr. Watt, 26, who mailed the cards from public mailboxes late at night to avoid detection, the officials said.

Detecting fake IDs is a constant headache for bar owners. Serving minors is one of the most serious violations of New York State liquor laws and can lead to fines, the loss of a liquor license and even criminal charges. Being caught with a fake means risking anything from a simple fine to a charge of criminal possession of a forged instrument, necessitating a lawyer and several court appearances.

The state’s Department of Motor Vehicles regularly updates the design and security measures of its driver’s licenses to stay ahead of counterfeiting techniques. An upgrade in 2022 included embossed text and images, laser etching, a visible embedded chip, and an engraved photo and birth date, said Walter McClure, a department spokesman.

This helps, “but I think the bad guys catch up, too,” said Mr. Sheil, the bar owner, who has spent four decades in the business. He keeps a list of questions for his door staff to ask patrons, many of them concerning ZIP codes and state capitals.

“Often, you’re able to tell by somebody’s demeanor,” he said. “There’s guilt written all over their face.”

Fakes sold online start around $35 and run into the hundreds of dollars. One site with the tag line “The piece of plastic that’s a doorway to fun” offers cards starting at $80 with overnight shipping and a 30-day return policy.

Another calls itself the #1 TRUSTED FAKE ID WEBSITE WORLDWIDE.”

“Are you thinking about all those parties and all that booze? Do you and your friends want to be a part of it?” says the website, which promises “secure and anonymous payment methods.”

The sites often post disclaimers that the cards are meant only for entertainment and novelty use, amid testimonials about how convincing they are and tips on how to effectively present them at bars and liquor stores.

One warns against using the IDs at casinos because they may have high-end scanners that check license numbers. It also suggests that buyers use self-checkout when purchasing alcohol at stores, “and never set foot in it again with parents.”

Gregory Clark, 56, a bouncer at the Playhouse bar in the West Village, said he uses a two-step system to proof patrons. ID cards are run through a TokenWorks ID scanner, as well as a Patronscan device similar to what federal screeners use at airports. The equipment costs around $6,500, he said.

“This is like our own little police database,” Mr. Clark said, adding that he has seized dozens of fake IDs in recent months.

“They will come back,” he said. “It’s like the stock market. Up, down, up. By the summer, we’re going to see more.”

Each year, hundreds of young people are cited for using fake identification to purchase alcohol, largely in sweeps at summer concerts and festivals, by Motor Vehicles officials partnering with state and local police agencies, Mr. McClure said. Last year, 51 sweeps resulted in 418 arrests or citations and 459 fraudulent documents recovered, he said.

Underage drinkers often use their real names, photos and physical descriptions on their fake IDs — for easier recall during bouncer interrogations — but they often choose an out-of-state license on the assumption that “New York bouncers know what a New York ID looks like,” said Jack Iorio, a senior at N.Y.U.

Mr. Iorio, 22, said he did not have a fake ID when he was underage, but that all his friends did. During his freshman year, he said, a group of classmates gathered to shoot photos to submit with their online orders, taking care to avoid a shadowy image, which looks homemade, and dressing up to appear “a little older.”

Sofia Ibarra, 21, an N.Y.U. junior, got her first fake ID the summer before her senior year of high school — a horrible simulacrum of the real thing.

“I might as well have been bringing a piece of paper that said, ‘I’m 21, trust me,’” she said. “My signature wasn’t even a signature. It was typed and stuck on the card.”

When her favorite bar finally began rejecting it — “They were like, ‘This is just so bad’” — she finally bought a better one online.

On her 21st birthday, she held a mock funeral for her fake ID. Her birthday cake was adorned with an “R.I.P.” and the no-longer-needed card was embedded in the icing. She later mounted it on her wall.

“She served me well, but it’s time to let her rest,” Ms. Ibarra said.