An ID card is one of the most widely used ways you can be identified in today’s world. Instead of having to run a long background check or take a fancy DNA test, you just have to hold up a piece of plastic that gives us a brief overview of who you are.

But of course, like anything else, if it exists it can be replicated. There’s no shortage of people out there that have looked towards faking an ID to look like a real one using different methods. These days you can find fake ID makers using the best of their abilities to make IDs that look virtually identical.

This is why Fake ID technology has progressed so far and continues to go the distance even further to produce convincing fakes.

1. The Importance of Keeping Up

The purpose of an ID has always been to prove your identity without a shadow of doubt. But it does with one key factor of in its side; trust. Humans are capable of lying and deceiving others but an ID can be trusted.

More importantly, it’s the technology behind the ID that can be trusted. We’re willing to trust IDs because we believe in the technology that was used to make them. We accept that it’s something that’s not going to be within everyone’s reach. And it’s that assumption that makes it hard to imagine that anyone can fake them.

But as IDs started to get faked, this trust went down. In order to stay ahead, IDs have to have features that can prevent fakes from being made anywhere else. This is why IDs these days tend to use the latest technology in order to have features that would be tough to replicate.

A fake ID will always be at a disadvantage if it can’t incorporate the same technological prowess that a real ID has. That’s why it’s so crucial for a fake ID to stay on it’s toes so it can keep up with ID design and implementation at every step of the way.

2. How IDs Have Continued to be Faked Throughout History

If you talk about the subject of fake IDs, then the history of it stretches as far back to the creation of the ID itself. The first documented use of seems to point to the Medieval period where passports were used to identify travelers from different kingdoms. It was a simple enough piece of identification that allowed a select few to identify themselves.

But of course, this meant that it was open to manipulation. These passports could be easily faked for espionage and infiltration by anyone on the outside. It made it difficult to truly identify anyone especially when there was no better alternative.

Several decades of work later, there were different versions of the ID made to serve the same purpose. But they all remained prototypes and none saw the light of day for nationwide use.

This became a serious problem following the first World War where having spies and trespassers started becoming a real issue. Even the common man would just assume a different identity to escape persecution using forged family documents.

The world finally started paying attention and adopted the use of a photo ID that closely resembles the modern ID. It started becoming a requirement for just about anyone to have it on their person. In 1985, the modern ID as we know it came into existence. 

Unsurprisingly, it didn’t take long for it to get forged for all kinds of activities like concealing identity or committing fraud. Four years later in 1988, the ISO started standardizing smart IDs with tamper resistant embedded circuits in an attempt to thwart any further forgeries.

And of course, this didn’t help things either…

3. The Crux of the Modern Fake ID

Fake ID producers have proved that not a lot has changed since the heydays of ID forgery. The same basic principles still apply.  As long as an ID can exist anywhere in the world, it can be replicated. No amount of technology has been able to fully leave fake IDs back in the dust.

What was once a simple piece of printed plastic has been morphed into one of the most securely backed documents you can carry on your person. All the stops have been pulled out to make sure IDs can stay safe from the hands of skilled fake producers.

But fake IDs have risen to this challenge and conquered it well. You can find fake IDs that can accurately reproduce advanced security features like UV lettering, holograms, micro printing, laser engraving, fluorescent overlay, and much more.

As of yet, one of the few pieces of technology that can be used to tell a fake apart from an actual ID is an ID scanner. This is one of the only options that’s accessible to the average bar tender or club owner. The scanning machine inspects the ID from top to bottom for its security features as well as having the ability to read the data off the barcodes and magnetic strips on the ID.

This method has only stopped a fraction of the fake ID producers of the world. While it did make it hard to reproduce for some sellers out there, others simply adopted the technology into their ID making process. This end up making it virtually impossible to be able track by anything other than actually cross checking the ID physically via the records.

The Future of Fake IDs

In today’s world of fast paced technology, nothing is set in stone for the future. The way that things are done can change at the drop of a hat. And this has definitely been the case with replicated IDs.

The advancement of fake and real IDs is a constant game of cat and mouse. One evolves to outwit its pursuer; the other does it to catch up. No one knows for certain what the future holds for fake IDs. But if it continues at its current pace, then you can expect a fake ID to always be only a few steps behind, waiting to catch up.