US, Bangladesh authorities shut down online network of fake ID shops

Score one for the good guys. The U.S. Department of Justice has seized a network of websites selling digital versions of fake government documents, including biometric passports and Montana driver’s licenses, and social security cards.

“The false identity documents were the types commonly used to create fraudulent online accounts at banks, online processors, social media sites, and digital currency platforms,” the DoJ says.

The DoJ worked with the FBI, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Montana and the Counter-Terrorism and Transnational Crime unit of Dhaka Metropolitan Police in Bangladesh to seize the domains of three online marketplaces, which allegedly sold fake IDs to more than 1,400 people around the world since 2021. One of them, “TechTreek,” raked in more than $2.9 million in that time, according to the government announcement.

A 29-year-old Bangladeshi national, Zahid Hasan, is charged with six counts of supplying false ID documents, two for false use of a passport and another for social security fraud. He could be imprisoned for up to 15 years for each of the first 8 charges against him plus 5 for the social security fraud, and potentially face millions in fines.

Hasan’s websites were charging less than $10 for a U.S. social security card, and digital fakes of Montana DLs for just over $14.

Online platforms around the world have struggled with a growing wave of fake ID documents delivered with either presentation or injection attacks.

Article Topics

document verification  |  fraud prevention  |  identity document  |  law enforcement  |  U.S. Government