China may be feeding Iowa City fake ID market

IOWA CITY - More minors are carrying fake ID's in downtown Iowa City. Sergeant Denise Brotherton said charges for altered, borrowed and completely fictitious ID cards are up by about 10 percent in 2011.

"It's not necessarily going to be University students, but that age group," Brotherton said.

In recent years, websites based overseas have started mass producing fake ID cards and shipping them to America. Iowa City Police believe it's possible some students have gotten fake ID's from overseas websites, but Brotherton said there is no way to know for sure.

One China based website coaches minors on how to take a well-lit photo. For around $100, minors can order an ID, which the website boasts comes complete with holograms and encoding to beat an ID scanner. The website only accepts money order payment through the mail.

The business claims its operation is 100 percent legal by Chinese standards in the "frequently asked questions" section of their website:

"China does not have the same laws on counterfeiting or copyrights, as you may very well know. From Louis Vuitton purses to Rolex watches, newest movies just in US theaters are already on pirated DVD here, not to mention software and video games. Everything of value is counterfeited here!"

Locally, there is little police can do to stop the Chinese distribution of the ID's. Officers in Iowa City are forced to fight the problem after the ID cards have already arrived and circulated throughout town.

"There's going to be ramifications on the local level if they get them," said Brotherton. "I know those aren't cheap, and it's definitely not cheap when you get those tickets and get your license suspended."

Earlier this year, police seized 1,700 fake ID's at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport. They were able to track down and arrest some of the individuals who ordered the ID's, which were being shipped from China. Last month, multiple residents in Cedar Falls were charged after the Department of Homeland Security uncovered another shipment of fake ID's ordered from China at the same airport.

Fines for possession of a Fake ID often exceed $500. In Iowa City, possession of a completely fictitious ID is a a serious misdemeanor, punishable by up to one year in jail.