Massachusetts identity imposters head to New Hampshire to avoid RMV facial recognition

A growing number of Massachusetts-based fraudsters are crossing state borders to New Hampshire in an effort to go undetected by the Massachusetts Registry of Motor Vehicles (RMV) facial recognition system that notifies police when applicants attempt to attain multiple driver’s licenses, according to a report by Boston Herald.

New Hampshire State Police has already experienced a rise in arrests this year of driver’s license fraudsters, said Sgt. Andrew Player, who heads up an investigations unit that specializes in RMV fraud.

Sgt. Player said that of the cases of driver’s license fraud it has seen so far, the majority of the imposters are from Massachusetts.

“We’ve had a large uptick this year in identity imposters,” Sgt. Player said. “One of the things the suspects have told us is that they come to New Hampshire because we do not have facial recognition. In Massachusetts the way it works is everyone’s image is retained and compared for commonality. They said they can’t go back three or four times for IDs.”

Some of the suspects are attempting to hide their immigration status, while others are trying to conceal their criminal warrants, Sgt. Player said.

The Massachusetts Registry of Motor Vehicles used funding from the Department of Homeland Security in 2005 “to introduce facial recognition technology as part of [its] licensing and identification card system,” before “it was officially introduced as part of the standard credential issuance process in September 2006,” said MassDOT spokesman Mike 
Verseckes.

Previously reported, facial recognition software used by Georgia’s Department of Motor Vehicles was unable to differentiate between teenage twin sisters applying for driving permits.

Article Topics

biometrics  |  criminal ID  |  driver's license  |  facial recognition  |  fraud  |  identity theft  |  law enforcement  |  Massachusetts