Spotting & Avoiding Fake ID Scam Sites
scummy scamming bastards are everywhere on the web, maybe reading this will help you avoid getting ripped off
Fake ID Scam sites are almost as old as the web.
When you’re looking for fake ID on the web, or, for that matter, anything that is borderline questionable or illegal – there’s always the risk you’re going to get ripped off. It’s the nature of black markets since the dawn of time. If you are buying in a market where you can’t seek legal recourse in the event of being scammed, it’s far more likely that bad actors such as scammers, identity thieves and fraudsters will be attracted to it.
What happens when you buy illegal drugs or fake passports off a dark market? It’s quite likely that you’re dealing with a criminal who has gone to great lengths to hide their true identity, to obfuscate their location and money trail. Put yourself in the shoes of that criminal – why would you bother delivering the product at all? There’ll always be more gullible suckers looking for fake IDs or cocaine, so why put yourself at risk sourcing the product. In these situations, it’s almost always easier to scam than deliver.
There have been numerous attempts to remedy this situation by creating “reputation markets”, where sellers can be rated by buyers. This gives buyers some level of confidence that they will not get ripped off, but it’s not a sure thing. Users of dark-net markets frequently fall victim to “exit scams” where a previously highly rated seller simply gives up, and trades on their reputation until they get banned or booted from the market place.
How a typical fake ID scam works :
There’s more scammers than real sites on the web these days. It’s just too easy with cryptocurrency and anonymous websites. It’s a variation on the classic scam that’s been around for centuries :
- Firstly, offer something that is illegal, too cheap, or simply too good to be true.
- Put yourself out of reach of angry customers and law enforcement.
- Rip off as many people as possible, as they can’t find you, and they certainly can’t go to the police (unless they are spectacularly stupid).
- Profit!
This type of fake ID scam has been running for as long as there have been websites. We think the earliest scam fake ID site was operating in mid 1997! Operating a scam site then was a lot more difficult than it is now – for one you needed an actual physical address to receive money to, whereas now all a scammer needs is a bitcoin address.
I was scammed by a fake ID site? What do I do now?
So you’ve sent $100 or £50 of your hard earned cash via cryptocurrency to some website who was offering a fake driving licence or passport. You wait around for a week or two, send them an email (which is ignored)… It dawns on you that you have been scammed. What can you do to get your money back? Sadly, there is very little you can do.
You can complain on the internet, but who gives a shit? Your money is not coming back. The scammers just change their site from time to time, so even your attempts to badmouth the site won’t work for long, if at all.
You can’t complain to the police as what you were doing was illegal, you can’t complain to anyone who cares!
The only way to avoid being scammed is to do your research.
Researching an ID site is easy enough, just Google the web address and see what comes up… right? Unfortunately, it’s not that easy. Many fake ID scammers have set up fake review sites, along with networks of satellite sites which fool the unsuspecting into thinking they’ve found a genuine site.
You’ve got to be careful when you choose the site you’re going to trust with your money, and more importantly your identity.
The number one indicator of a scam is a site offering lots of different kinds of fake ID.
Modern national ID and driver’s license cards are extremely well designed pieces of identification, the culmination of many years anti-counterfeit technology and improvements in printing security.
The average official government ID card contains numerous overt and covert security features and is printed on equipment costing at least $100,000. It is simply not possible for a counterfeiter to be aware of all the security elements and print technology required to make a passable copy of one card, let alone many different types of cards.
When you find a site offering many different types of fake ID cards, for different countries and states, it’s highly likely it’s a scam. No one forger or group of counterfeiters has the skills to replicate many cards with any level of accuracy. It’s far easier for them to pretend they can, and relieve you of your money.
Check the card images a site uses
A big hurdle to setting up a scam site is procuring the right sample images – it’s not a good idea to use someone’s real ID card, so many scammers mock up fake ID cards with the right security features and colours. In order to make a unique sample card, you need a plastic card printer and some skill – and in many cases, fake ID scammers just don’t have this skill. Instead, they steal images of cards from other ID sites, changing the details or names slightly so they look unique.
Google Reverse Image search or Tineye is a great help in identifying scam sites that have use stolen images. If your favoured site is using stolen images, you can be certain that they are not going to deliver your ID card.
Check what payment methods the site accepts
Any site that offers a “cash in post” service or accepts cheques or bank transfers is likely to be legitimate. If you’re going to scam people, it’s not a good idea to do it from an easily traceable physical location. However, these sites typically will not offer 100% identical replicas of existing ID cards (such as perfect copies of UK Genuine Issued UK driving licences or UK passports), as they want to stay on the right side of the law.
Read our UK Fake ID Vendors page for more information on this kind of ID card site.
The unfortunate reality is that once you make the decision to buy an illegal fake ID, you may be committing a crime. Once you decide to trust someone to help you commit this crime, you have no recourse if you get ripped off and lose your money.