A digital ID card means identification in the phone, with a photo, social security number, name and QR code, with which users can identify themselves in various shops, at post offices and at nightclubs. The person who has to check the identification does it either visually, or by scanning the code in the app.
There has been government Freja Eid since before, and in 2023 BankID launched its equivalent, which today is used by roughly 1.7 million Swedes.
Recently, there have been several reports of young people using fake ID documents to, for example, buy energy drinks, alcohol and cigarettes, or to enter nightclubs.
TV4 Nyheterna can now tell you how the sale of the documents is going. In a closed discord group, which is a service where you can anonymously talk and chat with others, credentials that imitate BankID’s ID card are offered at different prices, depending on how long they should be active and how old the user wants to appear .
This is how much the scam game costs
If you want to be 18 years old, it costs SEK 249 for one month, and SEK 349 for it to apply “lifetime”. If you want to fool a guard or shopkeeper that you are over 20, it costs SEK 349 for one month, and SEK 449 for it to apply for life. The anonymous sellers offer additional services such as changing the name and image, or restoring the account for a small amount.
When new users are added to the group, which has around 680 members, they are welcomed in an open forum. The atmosphere there is positive, many praise the services offered and send happy emojis. Some ask open questions to the site’s administrators:
“Hey man, is it up already, right? I’m brand new and don’t know this yet. For example, what can it be used for? When you order goods or?”
“yes, if you’re going to buy vape, snus, beer, go to an age-restricted party or something, club, bar”, replies a person who seems to run the page.
BankID: “Terrible”
In the past, Systembolaget has accepted digital ID documents from BankID by performing visual checks but has recently, following reports of fake apps, temporarily stopped. They believe it is not secure enough.
BankID takes the sale and use of fake IDs seriously.
– It is terrible and we take it very seriously. We cooperate with law enforcement authorities and continuously request “take downs” of such pages. There have been a few but they spread quickly. We work with it all the time from a security perspective, says Charlotta Pakaky, press officer at BankID.
In the discord group there are videos showing how their ID cards work. Users can submit pictures of themselves, as well as which social security number and name they want to appear. The actions look very genuine and it’s easy to understand how a regular merchant would be duped – as long as they don’t scan the QR code, that is.
This is how traders should avoid the scam
If the code is scanned, the customer’s identity is verified with the recipient. Everyone who sells goods with an age limit is encouraged to use this.
– There are no fake bank ID documents that can be used today because you have to read the QR code. But if you skip that part of the control chain, then it’s clear that it works, says Jan Olsson, criminal inspector at the National IT Crime Centre.
– It is above all in the trade and in restaurants where you do not check the authenticity of the act and then of course it is also then that these admissions or sales that should not be made take place. It’s just that you haven’t done the check you’re supposed to do, he continues.
If you use a false ID document, you are guilty of using a false document, a crime punishable by a fine to imprisonment for a maximum of two years. In the manufacture and sale of ID documents, it is a case of document falsification.
The person can then be sentenced to prison for a minimum of six months and a maximum of four years, if the crime is deemed serious.