Schumer slams fake IDs from China

In response to recently surfaced fake high-tech IDs that appear identical to real ones, Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) Tuesday called on wire-transfer companies to block payments to the suppliers in China.

The fakes have real photos, holograms, ultraviolet ink, watermarks and magnetic strips just as actual driver's licenses do, Schumer said at a news conference at a bar in Rockville Centre.

He expressed concern that the fakes are easily obtainable and are being used by teens to drink underage.

The new-age fakes can be detected only with expensive scanners that read the identifying information on the license's magnetic strip -- scanners that most bar owners don't have, Schumer said.

"These IDs are virtually indistinguishable from the real thing and they are now being shipped to the United States by the thousands," he said.

Charles Gennario, Rockville Centre police commissioner, said a sophisticated scanning device checks the ID's information against a Department of Motor Vehicles database.

Anthony Geraci, 38, the owner of Kasey's American Grill, where Schumer spoke, said he has a machine designed to detect fake IDs, but the new crop is "coming up on those machines as valid. It's like a real form of ID."

Nassau County police are aware of the high-tech IDs, but were unable to say if they have appeared in the county, Lt. Kevin Smith said.

"The days of blacking out a birthday and chalking it in are over," he said.

Online "novelty ID" retailers sell IDs for $100 to $300 and are paid with wire transfers, Schumer said, and the fakes are smuggled into the country in the soles of shoes.

"It's become common knowledge among teens on Long Island that phony IDs are easily obtained from Chinese sources," he said. "We need to strangle their source of funding and put them out of business."

In a letter Tuesday, he asked PayPal, The Western Union Company and MoneyGram International to work with the Department of Homeland Security to block payments to the online retailers.

A Western Union spokeswoman said the letter had not yet been received.

"If DHS tried to enlist our assistance, we would take that very seriously," she said.