If you Google ‘Fake ID’ you may find websites like reallygoodfakes.com and various forums that list fake ID vendors to buy from.
About 60 percent of the time people who are trying to drink underage use their siblings’ or friends’ old ID’s, said Mike van Gulden, founder and CEO of Chocolate Thunder Security, a Burlington-based security service.
Van Gulden said he has confiscated more than 500 fake ID’s.
“I’ve taken enough ID’s to cover a wall,” he said.
Colleen Kent, a bartender at Radio Bean, said she agreed that forging identification seems to be less common than using someone else’s ID who is of age.
“More often people have real actual ID’s. They are just not their ID’s,” Kent said. “It’s not easy to make a fake ID.”
“To get the same feel of an ID down is not easy,” she said. “When it’s your job to feel ID’s, if it feels weird at all, then no way, you’re not going to get served.”
Danny, a first-year who asked to only be identified by his first name so that he may not incriminate himself, said he bought a fake ID recently from a “friend of a friend.”
He said he already owned another one, but that it was “not very passable,” so he bought a new one.
Danny said he bought the new ID because he wanted to be able to buy alcohol himself instead of getting other people to buy it for him.
“I think it’s ridiculous that every other country has a drinking age of 18 or 19,” he said. “You can go to war at 18 but you can’t purchase a fucking beverage. The drinking age doesn’t stop anyone from drinking anyways.”
“From my own experience, Burlington is not the best place to try to drink underage,” said Joe O’Connor, a bartender at Ri Ra.
Savanna O’Connor, a staff member at Radio Bean, said the holograms on fake ID’s are often obviously flawed.
If an ID says ‘official’ or ‘authentic,’ on it it is “pretty obvious” that an ID is fake, she said.
“Most of the time people will fight it if I call them out on using someone else’s ID. They will say ‘yeah that’s me.’ I’ve asked people to tell me their Zodiac sign, to test them. They say things like, ‘I don’t have one,'” she said.
In the state of Vermont people 16 to 20 years old who are caught lying about their age or using a fake ID are given the option to complete an alcohol safety program which is run by the county court diversion program, according to healthvermont.gov.
If the underage person chooses not to participate in the program or does not complete all of its requirements they can be fined up to $300, and can have their drivers license revoked for 90 days, according to the website.
Second and third offenses can result in a fine of $600 and up to one month in jail.
A bar can be held directly liable for damages if a minor they have served alcohol gets into a car accident, O’Connor said.
Bartenders can often lose their job for carelessness and the bars themselves can lose their liquor licenses for not enforcing strict age controls.
“It can be detrimental to the business and to my own job. It’s better to be safe than sorry. I ID people who are 30 years old sometimes. It can be frustrating when patrons are embarrassed when we ID them, but that’s our job,” O’Connor said.
From his experience, van Gulden said that Higher Ground, Three Needs and Nectar’s Bar, were the three places that took away the most ID’s respectively.
“Every bar is pretty gung-ho about taking away ID’s,” he said. “It’s kind of a badge of honor or a trophy when they take an ID.”
If someone has given a falsified form of identification the “reasonable” thing to do is take their ID, van Gulden said.
If a person hands their ID over, they have given the bar employees consent to have the ID examined and possibly confiscated, he said.
However, those quoted above said they agreed that the drinking age should be lowered.
“It’s not fair that a 20 year old veteran who served in Afghanistan cannot go to a bar and get a beer,” van Gulden said.
“We were all underage once too. We know how much you all want to come out and listen to music and drink, but those businesses will get shut down for serving people under 21.” Savanna O’Connor said.
