NEW MEXICO (KRQE) – Federal agents have taken control of an online marketplace suspected of distributing fake driver’s licenses, passports, and other IDs.
Authorities stated they entered the marketplace to purchase counterfeit New Mexico driver’s licenses using cryptocurrency, as noted in a press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of New Mexico.
“The internet is not a shelter for offenders. If you create or distribute tools that allow others to impersonate victims, you are complicit in the crime,” Acting U.S. Attorney Ryan Ellison declared in the press release. “We will employ every legal means to disrupt your operations, eliminate your profits, and bring you to trial.”
The FBI began its investigation in August 2022 upon uncovering a scheme involving stolen identity information to breach cryptocurrency accounts. The inquiry revealed that VerifTools marketed counterfeit ID documents for all 50 U.S. states and several foreign nations for a fee of $9, payable in cryptocurrency.
The FBI has identified the equivalent of approximately $6.4 million linked to the VerifTools marketplace.
The FBI’s Albuquerque Field Office led this investigation with assistance from the Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs. The Justice Department worked alongside law enforcement and legal authorities from various areas during this probe, including the District of New Mexico, Eastern District of Virginia, the Dutch National Police, and the Netherlands Public Prosecution Service.
