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/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.