Overseas companies such as IDChief.com sell fake IDs that possess many of the security features of real IDs. However, looking at the ID's "micro" print under a magnifier will reveal if the ID is counterfeit. View these examples for fake and genuine IDs. Read the full article, "How To Identify a Fake ID." Photos courtesy of Leslie Pond, an investigator with the California Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control and founder of FakeIDtrainers.com.
Fake IDs
In the phony Florida ID, the box is just a line with dots when it is magnified.
In the example above of a real Illinois driver's license, the state places its micro print (stating "LifeGoesOn.com") on the back of the card as a line under the state Web site address.
With this example of the reverse side of a genuine New Jersey driver's license, the micro print spells out "the garden state," in clearly readable text.
In this genuine Florida driver's license, on the back of the card, the box around "www.hsmv.state.fl.us" is made up of micro print that, when magnified, says "the sunshine state."
This is what the front of a genuine Florida driver's license looks like.
This is what the front of a genuine New Jersey driver's license looks like.
On the back of this fake New Jersey driver's license there is an outline of the state. That outline should be readable micro print, and the words should say "the garden state." However, when the print is magnified, it is just a bunch of dots.
IDChief's counterfeit Illinois ID on the right doesn’t even come close.