Need a fake passport? This site will make one for $50.

I acquired my first fake ID when I was 19 years old. My alleged reason was to make it easier to acquire alcohol in a state where the legal drinking age was 21. The real reason was to prove that I was A COOL GUY to all my friends.

[Narrator: Afterward, his friends still did not believe he was a cool guy.]

The caper was James Bond-like in its sophistication. I took a photocopy of my birth certificate, used Liquid Wite-Out [1] to erase my real name and birth date, made a photocopy of that, rolled the copy of the copy into my typewriter, and typed a new name and birth date in the newly virgin spaces on that form. Fortunately, both the original and the new form used the same typewriter font (Courier), so it actually looked kinda-sorta legit. I then made another copy, took that one to the DMV, and applied for a state ID. A couple of weeks later, the card arrived in the mail.

My new birthday? April 1, of course. My new name: Daniel David Hardman. (Because, as the saying goes, "A Hardman is good to find.") [2] I still have that ID stashed in a box somewhere.

Getting a fake ID was a lot easier back then, before people started generating false identities so they could fly planes into buildings. Now it's a wee bit more difficult and can incur serious jail time [3]. Or it was more difficult, until AI and the Internet got involved.

Now, as Joseph Cox of 404 Media has reported, there's a new underground site called OnlyFake that claims to use AI to generate genuine-looking drivers licenses, passports, visas, bank statements, and other "official documents" for $15 to $250 a pop. [4]

The site appears to be operated by Russian scammers who are also big fans of Keanu Reeves. The nom-de-guerre for the site operator is John Wick. (Whatever you do, do not kill his puppy.) Here’s the sample order form they provide.

Pull over to the side of the Web & show me your ID

A big caveat here is that this site generates an authentic-looking image of a license or passport, not the actual physical document. Which means that they're really only useful for fooling sites that require you upload an image of a state-issued ID to verify your identity. And what Internet sites require this level of ID check? Well, cryptocurrency exchanges for one.

To prove his point, Cox did just that. He created an ID using his actual photo but otherwise fake information, and used it to dupe the identity verification system of one notorious crypto exchange:

In our own tests, OnlyFake created a highly convincing California driver's license, complete with whatever arbitrary name, biographical information, address, expiration date, and signature we wanted. The photo even gives the appearance that the ID card is laying on a fluffy carpet, as if someone has placed it on the floor and snapped a picture, which many sites require for verification purposes. 404 Media then used another fake ID generated by this site to successfully step through the identity verification process on OKX, a cryptocurrency exchange that has recently appeared in multiple court records because of its use by criminals.

Not to worry: OnlyFake’s site has an official "Denial of Responsibility" form that says, "Our templates are only for use in movies, TV shows, web illustrations (online account verification)," as well as, "The Service does not assume any responsibility for your illegal actions aimed at obtaining benefits for personal or other purposes."

There. That should stop Johnny Law dead in his tracks.

Crooks ripping off cryptocurrency sites might not be at the top of your list of things to worry about these days, but that's just the start. More and more sites are adopting state-certified identity verification. For example, I recently verified my identity on LinkedIn using a service called CLEAR (yes, the same one you see in airports). I cannot say whether an OnlyFake document would fool those guys, but I have to imagine it's making them sweat a little bit. [5]

_{We're mad as hell and we're not gonna fake it any more}

OnlyFake (I'm not going to provide the top-level domain, but you can probably figure it out) is not to be confused with OnlyFakes.app, which is a site that uses AI to generate uncensored (but not very realistic) nudes.

And that in turn is just one of a countless number of sites that let you generate fake images, audio, video, text, etc. The Internet is now a veritable smorgasbord of inauthenticity. The net has always had a problem with fakes; generative AI has made that problem orders of magnitude worse.

I think there's a silver lining in this, believe it or not. For years I've been saying that most of the problems on the Internet start with identity, or the lack thereof. Anonymity is a necessity for some people whose lives are at risk if they expose their identities or beliefs on the public Internet, but they're an infinitesimal fraction of the people who use Internet anonymity to act like complete assholes.

Sites like OnlyFake could help to push us toward a federated identity system, one that ensures people have a consistent identity across platforms. It would provide assurances that the humans on the other end of the keyboard are who they claim to be, even if their online name is something like PurpleElephant8972. [6] Part of that scheme would have to include a reputational system, so there are consequences for acting like an asshole online.

And if people don't want to participate in that system, fine. They can go scam and/or scream at each other, and leave the rest of us alone.

If you liked this post, please use the (nearly invisible) sharing options at the upper left of this beehiiv post to send it to two friends. If you hated it, please send it to four ex-friends.

[1] Remember Wite-Out? I still get a little woozy every time I think about it.

[2] Forty-odd years later, my sense of humor has not matured.

[3] Fortunately, the federal statute of limitations for fraud is only four years.

[4] The site claims to use neural networks to produce these things, but I'm not seeing how. I think we're looking at good old Photoshop+elbow grease here.

[5] I actually still get carded by the way. The movie theater I like to go a) sells wine and beer, and b) cards everyone, even people who are older than dirt. So if I ever lose my license, I know where I can get a quick replacement without waiting in line at the DMV.

[6] But not something like Meta's $15 a month verification BS. That's just a money grab. And don’t even get me started about Xitter’s “blue check” system.