Fake ID nightmare

[BerryTwister]

I posted this in chat but someone suggested Legal might be better.

I’m wondering if anyone can share any experiences. Please please please don’t tell me my son is evil and should be locked up, I can’t bear to hear it.

DS is just 17. His mates are now going to parties etc, drinking beer and so on. DS doesn’t get drunk, but drinks a couple of cans if he’s out at a party. A few of his contemporaries have got fake IDs, so stupidly, and obviously without telling me, he bought a fake ID online.

He supplied his photo, name, address and signature (but incorrect date of birth of course) to the seller.

And now, of course, he’s been scammed. He paid £40 for the ID, got sent a photo of it, and now the “courier” is demanding £100 before sending it or he’ll “open the package and go to the police”. It’s an obvious scam. I’ve messaged the courier and he as good as admitted it’s blackmail. It’s clear they’re scammers, so there’s no way they’d go to the police. Nor will they ever send the ID.

DS is utterly distraught. He’s convinced he’s going to end up in prison. He wants to go to the police right now and hand himself in.

My worry is that with the information he provided, the scammers could do some damage - not sure what exactly, but it seems like a lot of information for them to have.

I’m livid with DS. He knows about scammers, we get scam phone calls all the time. He knows how wary I am of anything dodgy.

Has anyone got any experience of this? Will it all just disappear if we don’t do anything, or will something bad happen?

Scammers love to use threats.
Your son is not going to go to prison.

Tbh im that stupid id have a field day with playing with the black mailing scammer.

It was quite a challenge getting him to admit to blackmail, which eventually he did, because he was too stupid to keep up!

I'm not sure it's actually illegal to buy a fake ID, I think it's the possession of one which is illegal.

It's definitely illegal to make a fake ID, so I would definitely ignore their threat.

The scammer likely knows that the punishment for creating & selling a fake ID is much harsher than being in possession/using one.

Seeing as your son ordered but never received it, I’m unsure if there’d be any legal repercussions. I can’t find any specific info on if buying a fake ID would be considered conspiracy to commit fraud.

Either way I’d ignore it and move on. If the scammer does hand it into a police station, they’ll just destroy it. Nightclubs/Venues hand hundreds fake IDs to police every week, they’re just destroyed.

Nothing new with false ID. My daughter is now 50 and I remember helping her make a false student ID card when she was 17.

Last month I had a conversation with a man who was stealing my neighbours luxury vehicle from their drive. I even have him on camera. The police are not interested. They just gave my neighbours a crime number so I don't think your lad will be going to prison

Calm down ffs. Just block and forget about the scammer. And don’t be harsh on your 17 year old, he’s come to you for help and you’re “livid” and begging on here for people not to think he’s “evil”.

Evil? For wanting a fake ID at 17? Have a fucking word, poor kid 😅

Please please please don’t tell me my son is evil and should be locked up, I can’t bear to hear it.
Bloody hell OP, if you are really like this in real life then please seek therapy. It's a massive over reaction.

Yes your son shouldn't have done it but the blackmail is a more serious crime. Personally I would go to the police about it especially since you don't know what the blackmailer will do with DS information, possibly identify theft?

@CountryQueen I'm surprised you and @WinterBlues26 are focussing on this, and you've both clearly misunderstood what I was saying.

In the 20 years I've been on MN I've read many threads in which posters are asking about some sticky situation their kids have found themselves in eg teen son's girlfriend is pregnant, teen crashing car, teen cheated on an exam - that sort of thing. And in amongst the supportive messages are nasty ones saying things like "well it serves him right, you reap what you sow, I hope they throw the book at her, kids like that are what's wrong about society today" etc etc. And I really didn't want people lecturing me that teens shouldn't be getting fake IDs and it's his own fault he's in this mess.

At no point did I say that I thought he was evil. I was asking other posters not to start lecturing me when I was already feeling crap. And of course, both of you decided to attack me anyway, so thanks for that, I hope you feel good about yourselves 🙄

I said you need to calm down. That is not an “attack”. And I was right, you do. Now you’re comparing your kid trying to get a fake ID to drink the odd alcopop with dangerous driving and getting his girlfriend pregnant. Complete overreaction

@CountryQueen again, you're misunderstanding me. I'm just making the point that teens make a lot of mistakes. And sometimes those mistakes are greeted by much vitriol on MN.
And actually I would argue that accidental pregnancy and underage drinking are pretty comparable really. Teens drink, teens have sex, pregnancy can happen even when condoms are used.

Ignore it, nothing will happen. I had friends 20 odd years ago who used college computers to buy fake ID, it's nothing new. The courier or company is just hoping people pay, they are not going to hand it into a police station, it is quite likely it hasn't even been printed and their whole business model is this scam.

It was easier back in the 1990s, you just had to ask the right upper sixth former to write your "date of birth" on the NUS card.

And the only place we got asked for ID was the student union bar anyway. But that was the place to be, even though we could have just gone in any pub 🙂

I’d actually report their threat!

I was asking other posters not to start lecturing me when I was already feeling crap.
Then say that instead of being dramatic. Even saying you had to do multiple back and forth messages trying to get them to admit blackmail is ott. You didn't need to engage with them further once they had refused to return the money/deliver the ID.

So what are you going to do? Block the scammer or go to the police regarding blackmail and possible identity theft?

I've found most of the posts on here really helpful, and after thinking about it I've blocked them and we're just going to do nothing. I have no faith in the police having the resources or ability to do anything about the scammers, especially as they may not even be in the UK. And DS is so anxious about it all, I don't think involving the police will help him. Just got to hope his identity isn't stolen, but he's not revealed any more than could be obtained from basic social media and phone book, so I don't think he's at greater risk than he was before. They have his signature, but he doesn't actually use that for anything.

When I was a student I worked in the students' union, and one of my jobs was to laminate (yes I was a 90s student) union ID cards. We all made them for our cats and dogs. Even the rabbit had one.

There's no way they'll do anything. It's them who committed crime not him.

Tell him to just have his 18 yo plus mates buy him drinks for the next few months, obviously he pays, or you'll give him a 4 pack to take to a party until he's got a legit one. And block the scammer.

It's tough tits really he lost the money but he's not going to get arrested or anything like that so reassure him of that. But make sure he knows if he gets scammed you're not bailing him out.

Tell them if he doesn't get his id you are going to the police. Your son won't go to jail, he might get a talking to, but the police would probably be very pleased to get the details of the people who are flogging them.

The prisons are too full to be dealing with the extraordinary amount of teens using fake ID I would imagine. Your son is probably one of hundreds the scammer is threatening just ignore and block

Poor lad! The fear they've created is the whole base of the scam. They're banking on him being scared into sending the money. They won't report it because they'll be the ones that got done (if anyone!)

If he sent them £100 they'll think he's fair game and probably ask for more.

Block them and both try and forget about it

There's a silver lining to this situation.

1. The scammer won't report him to the police
2. Don't interact with the scammer
3. Explain to your DS, as part of being an adult, is thinking about "What's the worst thing that can happen?"
4. A part from the scammer, and whilst unlikely he could get a criminal record for "false representation" by using a fake ID. And that would be life changing.

I hope he enjoys a drink on his 18th...

Don’t be too angry either him, he was daft but blimey who hasn’t done that as a teen, probably more so years ago, I would report them though Report Fraud.

All the above advice, plus your son needs to be vigilant for phishing attempts now they have his details. E.g phone calls purporting to be from his bank, text messages asking him to pay for something etc. It's good he gave a false DoB, that will stop most issues if they try to use his identity.

“Utterly distraught”
“Livid”
”Don’t tell me he’s evil, I can’t bear to hear it”.

You need to calm the fuck down and nothing you can backtrack with will make me say otherwise. Just block them and reassure him that they are scumbags and he’s just been unlucky 🤷🏽‍♀️