A Chinese criminal gang in New York has been stealing driving licenses from “look-alikes” of illegal immigrants so they can pass themselves off as US citizens, authorities have revealed.
At least 3,000 Asian-Americans had their identities scalped from a Texas driver database before officials got wise to the scheme – but shockingly none of them have been notified of their identity being compromised over two months later.
The criminal group first obtained personal information of Asian-Americans through the dark web and used it to order duplicate driver’s licenses through the state’s website, the Texas Department of Public Safety [DPS] – which issues licenses – admitted.
When ordering a new copy of a license through an online portal, which was run by a third party, the criminals were able to use information such as previous addresses or mother’s maiden names which they had nefariously obtained to answer security questions. They were then able to order new licenses for as little as $11 which they sent to “third-party addresses.” The DPS admitted 2,400 licenses had been shipped in this way.