Lab Notes

A man with a conviction for identity theft got a job making identity cards for the military. Unsurprisingly, he used his position to create fraudulent ID for — among at least 30 other people — a Pakistani arrested for a felony while carrying a card identifying him as U.S. Army specialist.

A follow-up story makes the point about the insidious nature of the ID cards created: they aren't fake IDs, they are real IDs, but fraudulently obtained. That means in the absence of any other information, a check of the ID card would show it as being legitimate. This is one of the tools the 9/11 terrorists used to limit scrutiny of their actions. A number of them were carrying real, albeit fraudulently obtained, Virginia driver's licenses when they boarded their planes. There's no indication that any terrorists obtained IDs from the man arrested in this case, but hopefully his superiors will perform some background checks before hiring his replacement.