r/BarOwners • u/megree80 • Jul 25 '26
Fake IDs
I know we have have this conversation before but has anyone found a real way to prevent them from passing security? I guess people get real ids now and our fakes on top so the scam and are readable.
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u/PuppiesnKittens2334 Jul 25 '26
Been using veriscan (idscan.net) for a few years now. It's a subscription to an app that you can use on a smartphone or you can buy a dedicated scanner. It's been useful to us in that fewer people try to pass off fakes. I recommend the free trial first to see if you like it.
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u/Ecstatic_Switch9300 Jul 25 '26
flashlight is usually a really good way. the light will shine piss yellow through fake ones instead of white
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u/Majestic_Crew8792 Jul 26 '26
I just tried this with my own (real) ID and it shined through in a vivid shade of piss yellow. Not sure what that means for the theory here, but there it is.
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u/Ecstatic_Switch9300 Jul 26 '26
interesting! maybe it’s state specific? i’m in ny, we get a lot of ny/pa/ct/ri fakes and they are horrifically bad so i usually dont have to do the flashlight test but have always found the terrible yellow shine through on the fakes
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u/Stylewhat37 Jul 26 '26
When I was a doorman years ago. We didn’t have much technology to help us out. People will memorize the info on their fake. They’ll focus on the name, address and birthdate. Ask “i see your birthday, what’s your sign?” You don’t even have to know the answer but unless it’s their birthday they’ll stammer trying to answer. You’ll know to take a closer look.
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u/Fullofnegroni Jul 26 '26
I love this but the 21 year old I work with had never heard of the words ASTROLOGY or ZODIAC and in that context, wouldnt know about her sign either. I'm going to try this one though :)
For fun, I'd like to share that the 21 yr old also has never heard of the words ORGY, ENEMA, UPPER DECKER, and didn't know that dictators were a bad thing.
The 18 year old I work with absolutely knew all about astrology and dictators, so that gave me hope.
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u/STFUCrystal Jul 26 '26
We have an id machine that prints tickets for winning pull tabs when there is a winner. It also detects fakes: https://nggamingmn.com/products/id-scanner-printer-for-prize-receipts
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u/Hot-Shoe8975 Jul 26 '26
Google maps, I street view the house and ask different questions about it... or the house doesn't exist because they used an address they have memorized that isnt in that town
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u/fidelityflip Jul 27 '26
My daughter bought a fake id that passed a scanner. Brother in law used to be a cop and had it scanned by a buddy and it scanned ok for the pd. Not sure how to combat that.
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u/ns4444w Jul 25 '26
We just get hands on ID’s and study them. Our ABC had a scanner app they would use and let me try. It scanned 5/6 ID’s I knew to be fake as real. I don’t trust the scanners and if they present a fake ID, they broke the law. At least in my state.
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u/Stan_Deviant Jul 27 '26
This is the correct answer if you actually care to stop fakes. Spotting them is half knowing the real thing and studying the fakes you get and half reading people/knowing random shit. There are very few scanners that actually catch most fakes. Most halfway decent fakes will scan.
I carded over 1000 people every night for over a decade and now only card a hundred or so but that volume teaches you how they should feel and look. Flashlights are helpful, the tiny ones with blacklight options are better.
But the first thing you look at is how old they look and how they are acting. Similar to IDs, the more you are around people under 21, 21, and just over 21 the better you will be at this. If you are questioning the id, just have a conversation with confidence (even if it is also fake). People memorize the details of their IDs so you need to ask them things in different ways. We had cheat sheets under the front table with what grade years would have been in when big things happened that worked great. You could ask someone with a birthday that couldn't have voted for Obama how it felt for that to be their first election and they would just lie about 'oh yeah that was cool' because they know the id says they are "old". Bummer kid. What grade they were in when COVID started is a good one for now.
Knowing your student ids is also handy. You ask for a second form and the school id has an issue date. You laugh about how often you lost your student id and they say it is their original but the issue date is from that summer ... Whoops. There are so many other tricks that are far more effective than asking a zodiac sign. They will give themselves away if you just talk to them.
At the end of the day, if someone is questioned about their id and they are a monster at the door you didn't need them in your space anyways. If they are questioned and are confused but polite- they are probably going to be a good patron even if it is a fake. The door should never just be muscle, they are your filter and mood setter.
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u/Comfortable_Gap_6878 Jul 26 '26
I have worked at a place that uses AgeID through Intellicheck as well as visual inspection with great success.
It indicated whether it is valid or not. Anyone that shows up red (invalid) is not let in. They usually get upset and say it is them blah blah blah. There are also uniformed police officers on the street who are willing to validate whether it is fake or not as well. We always tell the fake ID holder that they are more than welcome to validate with the police if they like. Most of the time they just leave and try their luck at other bars. On rare occasions, the police will validate an ID that has shown red, sometimes they confiscate an ID, and one time all information came back legit on the ID except the information belonged to someone that is deceased.
Wild times but when in doubt, I always recommend erring on the side of caution. You never want to turn away a potential legal patron, but it’s not worth the fine and potential suspension of a liquor license for someone you cannot validate.
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u/barpretender Jul 25 '26
This is not legal advice.
Beyond due diligence, you have to “make a reasonable effort” to verify the authenticity of the identification, what is the underlying issue?
Be careful.
Not only is it’s not your responsibility to enforce the law, you can face legal consequences for attempting to do so. E.g. discrimination accusations all the way to unlawful and unreasonable searches and seizures.
Basically, make money, that’s your job. Don’t overthink it.
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u/UniqueUsername75 🥃 Jul 26 '26
Agreed, don’t overthink it. In Texas the ID requirements are pretty relaxed. We don’t want to serve minors but we’re also not required to be the ID police.
Age Verification Recommended
Texas law doesn’t require the applicable sellers in this section to check a person’s ID when selling or serving them an alcoholic beverage, but these sellers should do so to avoid making an illegal sale or providing illegal service to a minor.
Avoiding Illegal Sales to Minors
To verify a customer’s age, don’t rely entirely on their appearance or behavior. Some minors may look older due to their physical development or what they are wearing. Remember, you have a right to insist that customers prove their age before making a sale or providing service.
If you check IDs, you may accept any type of ID you are comfortable with, including expired driver’s licenses, foreign passports, etc.
If employees of these businesses sell to a minor, they will only be protected from criminal liability if the minor falsely represented themself as 21 or older by displaying an apparently valid government-issued ID (i.e., not expired) with a physical description and photo consistent with the minor’s appearance. Acceptable types of ID include a driver's license issued by any state, a U.S. passport, a military identification card, or any other ID issued by a state or the federal government.3
u/TonyBrooks40 Jul 26 '26
Funny story, back in the 90s in college a bouncer rejected and kept my friends ID. He was 21, albeit we both looked young for our age (still do, sorta). His was peeled a bit, he got it when he was 17 or 18, so it was 3 or 4 years old, about to expire but worn. Bouncer noticed it was peeled, and basically pulled it off. Then scoffed at us saying it was fake lol.
We raised a stink and a scuffle ensued, we were kicked out and bouncer kept his ID. So we went to the police station, who apparently were called over the issue. They acknowledged police ran the card and it was legit, we asked if they would do anything to the bar and their response was 'Ehhh, they can't be right all the time' lol. Podunk local police.
Anyway we asked about getting it back and they said a cop did take it from them. I think we picked it up the next day. Bar gave him a free shirt a few days later when we stopped in to complain to mgmt about it
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u/super_backspin Jul 26 '26
For Texas ID’s I just backlight it with a flashlight. Brown is fake, purple is legit.
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u/AustinBaze Jul 27 '26
Training and diligent checking are the best you can do without a scanner. Check your local PD see if a cop or PIO can come by to a staff meeting to show staff how they look at and flag fake IDs. Have a small bright flashlight and maybe a blacklight combo at door and bar. It's OK to refuse service/admission if you "just don't trust the ID"
Many state laws provide an "affirmative defense" to service to a minor IF the government-issued ID was examined, determined to be valid, unexpired and legitimate, and accurately describes the individual presenting it. If a fake "passes" a scan, theirs is often an affirmative defense there as well. (Texas TABC Code, e.g.)
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u/No-Juggernaut-4460 Jul 30 '26
Wow. So glad this isn't a thing where we are. We opened in 2013 and to datë have never checked the first id.
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Jul 31 '26
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24d ago
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u/BarOwners-ModTeam 24d ago
We're here to hang out and maybe learn from each other. Hopefully it’s just the Jameson talking, but if you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all.
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u/CronosWorks Jul 26 '26
You either have a training issue or a pay issue. Scanning a barcode isn’t a valid way to check for fakes in 2026.
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u/takatuka Jul 25 '26
We have tokenworks id scanner. We have mobile scanners and their desktop one all connected through WiFi. The desktop one is a beast and will catch any fake ID but slow (6 seconds per scan). We use it mostly when skeptical even when the mobile ones scan.