Laminate Lament

How the theft of some plastic in the Northeast can make your life miserable.

by Daryl Gale

Here in the big city, crime is a part of everyday life. Arson, armed robberies, rapes and murders dominate the headlines and strike fear into the hearts of urban dwellers, but lower-profile, less sexy crimes barely rate a raised eyebrow, although to the victims the effects can be just as devastating. Take, for example, identity theft.

Last May, an unknown quantity of card stock and laminate used to make official Pennsylvania driver's licenses was stolen from the Lawndale photo center on Levick Street in the Northeast. The materials can be used to fashion a driver's license of an existing person using a different photo, or just make up a person from scratch. The ID can then be used to make purchases, obtain credit, apply for a mortgage or any number of illegal schemes that are profitable, but wreak havoc with the real person's life and credit rating.

According to Pennsylvania Department of Transportation spokesperson Joan Nissley, the break-in at the driver's license center was discovered by a clerk arriving for her shift the next morning and reported to the Philadelphia police, who launched an investigation. Nissley plays down the hideous ramifications of the theft, citing other security firewalls built into your official state ID.

"This is very serious, and we're treating it that way," Nissley says, "but to make a proper duplicate, there are other security safeguards built in that have to be duplicated too. Obviously, I can't say what those safeguards are, but I can say that just having the laminate isn't enough to fool someone trained to spot fake IDs."

While that may be true, the problem, says Philadelphia District Attorney Lynne Abraham, is that most merchants and store clerks aren't trained well enough to spot a really good fake, especially if some of the safeguards are bypassed. Like counterfeit currency, most people will check the obvious telltale signs of fakery, but a really good counterfeit could easily slip by. Abraham says that identity theft is a fast-growing problem, and she's taking the theft very seriously.

"There is a prevalent scheme to steal and use laminate and card stock from photo IDs," Abraham says, "and the real danger here is that the use of real laminate makes the fake ID look genuine. If you look on your license, you'll see a hologram of all 66 Pennsylvania counties listed in alphabetical order, and as you tilt it back and forth or look at it under a light, you see the word Pennsylvania at least four times. Having that safeguard appear on fake licenses is frightening."

The city's top law enforcement official says that once the bad guys have the card stock and laminate, they can make hundreds of different IDs, and play hell with people's lives and the economy.

"These people can then take your identity, raid your bank account, sell your house and furniture on eBay, or obtain credit cards in your name and max them out," she says. "Even if you manage to have it declared as a case of identity fraud, it will still take you years to straighten the mess out, if you ever do. We conducted an investigation into identity theft last year and found that the crime accounts for millions in lost revenue in Pennsylvania. There was one where the thief racked up $6 million in purchases, and that's just one case."

The Lawndale case is still under investigation, Abraham says, and she vows to bring the perpetrators to justice. Because the bogus IDs are almost always used to make purchases nationwide, and there are issues of wire fraud and illegal interstate commerce, the FBI is working with the Philadelphia police and District Attorney's office to conduct the investigation. Abraham also states that there is solid evidence that the ill-gotten gains from identity theft are being used to fund terrorism here and abroad, which of course also piques the interest of the feds.

"It may not make the headlines, and it's not a splashy or sexy crime, but it's real," she says. "The people who commit these crimes ruin lives and help the cause of terrorism. We'll get them. It's a matter of time."