New Technology Snags Identity Thieves

September 2008

How Pennsylvania is using facial recognition technology to crack down on identity theft.

When Pennsylvania State Police arrested 41-year-old Mark Haigler, it was technology that had implicated him as an identity theft suspect.

Thanks to FaceEXPLORER, a facial recognition technology that scours a statewide driver’s license database for duplicate photos, the state police learned that the Trenton, N.J. resident was using three different Pennsylvania driver’s licenses with three different names––a fairly obvious sign something was amiss.

“Under the natural course of a police investigation, the next step [was] to go find this guy and arrest him for this,” explains Capt. Dave Young, commander for the Philadelphia region. “First off, you’ve got to figure out which of the IDs we’re looking at is the real one. One of them should be the real guy and the other two are probably a real picture, but a fake ID.”

When Young’s troopers checked each of Haigler’s IDs against a database of guns registered in Pennsylvania, they discovered that the two “fake” Haiglers had purchased six firearms between them, using identities that had been fabricated using Haigler’s real photo, plus personal information stolen from unsuspecting victims. The real Haigler was now suspected of being not just an identity thief but also a “straw buyer”—someone who purchases firearms on behalf of others. 

“This is obviously putting guns out on the street in the hands of people that can’t get them,” Young says. “And usually, when they can’t get them, it’s because they shouldn’t have them.” Indeed, two of the weapons had been recovered in a crack house, Young says. The others are still out on the streets.
   
The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) has been using facial recognition technology since June 2006. Developed by the Massachusetts-based Viisage Technology, later renamed L-1 Identity Solutions, the technology works by creating a facial recognition “template” for every photo it records. These templates don’t just take into account obvious identifying features like scars and birthmarks. They are the product of complex analysis that establishes an algorithm for each person’s unique facial structure. Law enforcement sources say that the technology is precise, that it works, and that it will continue to catch identity thieves who’ve established multiple driver’s licenses using their own photos. “There could be thousands of people out there that have fictitious IDs right now that are very comfortable. The problem is, when they renew, they are going to get nailed,” says Young.

New licenses and requests for renewals trigger a review by the automated system. When duplicates are detected, state police are notified. Young said that his troop, which covers Pennsylvania’s most densely populated region, has been looking at approximately 50 duplicate ID cases each month. When Haigler’s arrest was announced earlier this July, state police also disclosed information on the arrests of 20 other identity thieves who’d been apprehended using the facial recognition software. Some had acquired licenses using fictitious identifying information. Others used information stolen from unsuspecting Pennsylvania residents. Among those arrested was a man who used a concocted identity to obtain a commercial driver’s license. Though he wasn’t tied to any terror groups, in other hands such a driving credential could be catastrophic. “That means you can haul a truck,” Young says of commercial licenses. “Now, you can put anything you want in the back of that truck…it shows the homeland security implications of getting a fictitious CDL.”

Since the technology was first put into use, Young says his troopers have made it a practice to run names used in all duplicate IDs into a registered firearms database. By doing so, troopers can build a stronger case against an identity thief, with more serious weapons charges if they are indeed involved in illegal weapons purchases. Young anticipates more “straw buyers” being nabbed as more new licenses are sought and more licenses are up for renewal.

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, likewise, has also tapped into the driver’s license database for its own investigations. “What I have seen is that people are getting locked up with a low amount of guns purchased, which leads me to believe that we are catching this very early,” says Special Agent John Hageman, spokesman for the Philadelphia Field Division of the agency. “That’s an indication that this piece of technology certainly has great potential for law enforcement,” he said.