Published: September 17, 2009 04:59 pm      

Crack down on ID thieves

New technology now being used by the Indiana Bureau of Motor Vehicles is making things more difficult for identity thieves.

Last fall, the bureau began running the 6.5 million driver’s license photos in its database through facial recognition software in search of people who had obtained licenses using more than one name, and in recent weeks, the bureau began sending the results to local law enforcement agencies. Police have already made several arrests, and they say more are coming.

Every business day, photographs taken at the state’s 140 license branches are sent electronically to BMV headquarters where they are processed using a computer program that looks at hundreds of identifying points on each face. To ensure the system runs at peak accuracy, people getting IDs are asked to remove their glasses, pull back any hair dangling in front of their faces and to refrain from showing their teeth if they smile.

So far, the computer has come up with about 1,500 suspected fraud cases that have been forwarded to the BMV security and fraud investigation unit. From there, the cases are often referred to the appropriate law enforcement agency.

Sometimes, the fraud is committed by a teenager looking for a fake ID to buy alcohol. Other times, the culprit is a wanted criminal trying to avoid the long arm of the law.

And in still other cases, the individuals are illegal immigrants using someone else’s identity to obtain work in the United States.

In the end, this new process will make things more difficult for people trying to live in Indiana under assumed names.

BMV officials say the ultimate goal is to make an Indiana driver’s license something people can rely on as a method of identification for people living and working in the state.

The bureau deserves credit for its use of technology to track down suspected identity thieves, and police should be applauded for following through on the information.

They’re trying to send a simple message: If you’re planning to steal someone else’s identity, Indiana is the wrong place to do it.



– Pharos-Tribune, Logansport, and Kokomo Tribune