Identity document forgery is the process by which identity documents issued by governing bodies are copied and/or modified by persons not authorized to create such documents or engage in such modifications, for the purpose of deceiving those who would view the documents about the identity or status of the bearer. The term also encompasses the activity of acquiring identity documents from governing bodies by falsifying the required supporting documentation in order to create the desired identity. China ID card 居民身份证 ,front (top) back (bottom). ...

Documents that have been forged in this way include driver's licenses (which historically have been forged or altered to conceal the fact that persons desiring to consume alcohol are under the legal drinking age), birth certificates, Social Security cards, (likely used in identity theft schemes, or to defraud the government), and passports (used to evade restrictions on entry into a particular country). Driving licences within the European Union are subdivided into different categories. ... In chemistry, an alcohol is any organic compound in which a hydroxyl group (-OH) is bound to a carbon atom of an alkyl or substituted alkyl group. ... Maria Elizabeth Winblad (1895-1987) birth certificate In most countries, a birth certificate is an official legal document usually containing most of the following information: Name at birth Date and time of birth Sex Place of birth Birth registration number (NHS number in UK) Legal parent(s) (including in UK... For specific national programs, see Social Security (United States), National insurance (UK), Social Security (Sweden) Social security primarily refers to a field of social welfare concerned with social protection, or protection against socially recognized conditions, including poverty, old age, disability, unemployment, families with children and others. ... Identity theft (or identity fraud) is committing a crime, tort or other harmful act by deliberately assuming the identity (or some part or parts thereof) of someone other than the person doing the harmful act. ... In the broadest sense, a fraud is a deception made for personal gain, although it has a more specific legal meaning, the exact details varying between jurisdictions. ... The title page of European Union member state passports bears the name European Union, then the name of the issuing country, in the official languages of all EU countries. ...

Such falsified documents are used for identity theft, age deception, illegal immigration, and organized crime. With the advent of photo editing computer programs, the process of forgery of identity documents has become easier. Identity theft (or identity fraud) is committing a crime, tort or other harmful act by deliberately assuming the identity (or some part or parts thereof) of someone other than the person doing the harmful act. ... Illegal immigration describes the long term shift of populations across national borders without complying with the legal requirements. ... Organized crime is crime carried out systematically by formal criminal organizations. ... Photo manipulation is a type of digital art. ... Forgery is the process of making or adapting objects or documents (see false document), with the intention to deceive. ...

The process of making forged document varies by the document being attempted to replicate, due to varies in material attributes such as thickness aka mil, holograms, printing methods, and other hidden security devices embedded within. Mil can refer to a number of different things. ... Holography (from the Greek, Όλος-holos whole + γραφή-graphe writing) is the science of producing holograms, an advanced form of photography that allows an image to be recorded in three dimensions. ...

Fake IDs

Real IDs now days are printed on polyvinyl chloride, or PVC. Printing on this material is extremely expensive, so it is not logical to use it for this purpose. Polyvinyl chloride, commonly abbreviated PVC, is a widely-used plastic. ...

Fake IDs normally are made with two major methods. One method, using an inkjet or laser printer and a special type of paper called teslin, which will produce the best IDs; another method is using photo paper. Both methods are laminated inside a lamination pouch called a butterfly pouch, and of course require a laminator. Most USA driver licenses are polyvinyl chloride, so teslin is ideal. Teslin is a synthetic printing media, manufactured by PPG Industries. ... Polyvinyl chloride, commonly abbreviated PVC, is a widely-used plastic. ... Teslin is a synthetic printing media, manufactured by PPG Industries. ...

Most designs are made using computer programs, re-creating scanned copies of a driver license. Templates in PSD format are available on the internet. PSD can be an abbreviation for: Photoshop Document, the default file extension of the proprietary file format of Adobe Photoshop. ...

Today's US licenses include holograms, which have to be recreated after printing the ID, by methods such as silk-screening or a stencil. Though recreation of these holograms is extremely difficult, using a mixture of pigments and base can create a similar look. The pigment preferred is named Pearl-Ex, which, when mixed with another colour, fades between the two colours. In more complicated designs, the hologram reflects the full spectrum. For this mixing the major colors, 2 or 3 of them, will be sufficient. Holography (from the Greek, Όλος-holos whole + γραφή-graphe writing) is the science of producing holograms, an advanced form of photography that allows an image to be recorded in three dimensions. ... Screen-printing, also known as silkscreening or serigraphy, is a printmaking technique that creates a sharp-edged single-color image using a stencil and a porous fabric. ... a political stencil A One-Color Stencil Happy 1984 - one-Color Stencil found on the Berlin Wall A stencil is a cartoon, number, letter, illustration, typographical symbol, or any other shape or image in cut-out form (it can be cut out of paper, cardboard, metal or other material). ...

Now days most US licenses include a 2-dimensional barcode, in the format of PDF417, which contains the same information as on the front of the license. Some bars now scan your ID, and they check to see if they barcode is correct with the front, and if it says you are greater than or equal to the drinking age. To generate these barcodes, there is software, such as dBarcode 2003 2d. To read them and decode them, you can scan the barcode using a scanner, and save it as a TIFF. A program called Axtel Barcode Recognition can read the barcodes. Currently there isn't a universal code, so it varies from state to state. PDF417[1] is a 2-dimensional barcode (also known as matrix code) used in a variety of applications, including Transport, Identification cards, and Inventory management. ... This article is about TIFF, the computer image format. ...

Some states also include 1-dimensional barcodes, and you can also read them using Axtel Barcode Recognition.

In addition, some states include a magnetic strip. Versions of butterfly pouches are available with magnetic strips included, but the hardware to encode the strips is very expensive. For other senses of the word code, see code (disambiguation). ...

UK 'Fake' ID Cards

As with the US most official ID cards are made from PVC or derivatives. However in the UK the legal system allows “novelty ID cards” to be legally manufactured and sold. These cards are not copies of official cards but to share enough common design features to often look remarkably similar. It has been argued that these cards allow minors to legally purchase age restricted products such as alcohol and cigarettes. Novelty ID cards are frequently designed to appear similar to existing ID cards, while not infringing the copyright of the existing cards. The tort of Passing off has been invoked by copyright holders in the past to dissuade UK firms from producing actual replica cards. Passing off is a common law tort which can be used to enforce unregistered trademark rights. ...

As the cards themselves are not illegal there are no restrictions on allowing minors to purchase them. The novelty ID card industry started in the late 1990’s in the UK with kit cards. It wasn’t until 2000 that PVC cards became available as firms invested in PVC plastic ID card printers.

External links

• Hack Canada: A Beginner's Guide to Fake ID

• DMOZ category for fake ID sites