Did your college make the list for high fake ID search volume?

We receive more than 500 views each day on our content related to fake IDs and are one of the top resources in the country for all things related to fake and fraudulent identification.

Although these pages and guides, such as our most popular post –  What Do Scanners Display After Scanning A Fake ID – are valuable resources for businesses, we’ve learned through demographic data that the majority of views to these pages are by internet users under the age of 21. People viewing these pages are mostly minors, sleuthing to see if their new fake IDs will work at their local bar or nightclub. 

Many of these minors are accessing this content from the IP address of their school. So we’ve compiled a list of the top 25 colleges and universities with the most traffic to fake ID-related content:

The Colleges & Universities With The Highest Interest in Fake IDs

1. Grinnell College, Grinnell, IA
2. University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI
3. Iowa State University, Ames, IA
4. University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA
5. Boston University, Boston, MA
6. Florida International University, Miami, FL
7. Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI
8. University of South Florida, Saint Petersburg, FL
9. Harvard University, Cambridge, MA
10. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL
11. New York University, New York, NY
12. University of Hartford, Hartford, CT
13. University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI
14. Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN
15. Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO
16. University of Florida, Gainesville, FL
17. University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN
18. Boston College
19. Emory University, Atlanta, GA
20. University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ
21. University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT
22. University of Mississippi, Oxford, MS
23. Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN
24. Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO
25.  University of Georgia, Athens, GA

Recent news regarding these colleges:

University of Washington – On September 2, 2022, 137 college students were cited for underage drinking. Police raided a bar where they asked 143 individuals their age: only six from that number were actually 21.

Iowa State University – The school’s hockey team was suspended for a year in July of 2022 for underage drinking used during hazing of its new members. 

University of Southern California – In late 2018, a student was arrested for receiving a package of 10 fake IDs to the college’s local FedEx. 

Boston University – A BU professor researched underage drinking and found the following: “We estimated that in 2016, underage youth consumption accounted for 8.6% of the drinks consumed and 7.4% of the dollars spent on alcohol. This translates into $17.5 billion going to alcohol companies.” The Insurance Journal also found that “In Massachusetts, binge drinking is common among both in the general population and among underage drinkers: 44% of current (past-30 day) drinkers age 12 and above, and 63% of current underage drinkers (ages 12-20) binged in the past month.”

Michigan State University – Although bouncers are trained on how to spot fake IDs at Michigan bars, the local police department is called at least once a week to check a license’s authenticity. 

University of South Florida – A USF student fell asleep in a dorm common area after having too much to drink. A campus police officer searched his wallet and found a fake ID. The student was charged with a misdemeanor and hefty legal fees.

Harvard University – In 2008, a Harvard student was caught making fake licenses and fake university IDs. 

University of Notre Dame – An ND senior, who was drunk, died in 2015 after she fell off the roof of a campus building. In 2019, an 18-year old student, suspected to be drunk, fell two stories in his campus dorm. In 2002, a freshman was found dead with a BAC of 0.224.

Boston College – A popular restaurant in downtown Boston temporarily lost its liquor license after underage BC students were found drinking alcohol. Among seven of the underage students, they were drinking a Coors Light, a White Claw, and five Moscow Mules.

University of Mississippi – An Ole Miss student was charged with manufacturing fake IDs in 2019 and was given a $75,000 bond.

Vanderbilt University – “A VPR Simple Random Sample (SRS) of Vanderbilt first year students found that 47% of students had obtained a Fake ID or were in the process of obtaining a fake,” says Vanderbilt Political Review. 

University of Georgia – UGA Police arrest 20 people on average each week for underage drinking.

Fake ID usage at colleges is rampant. More than 46% of college students admit to using fake ID to buy alcohol. The most common ways that underage drinkers obtain fake IDs are by purchasing the ID online, or receiving an old ID from a friend or relative. Fake ID owners typically use their fake ID at least 2-3 times per month, with 56% of users using it at least twice in the last 30 days. 

The Top 10 High Schools With The Highest Interest in Fake IDs

We also saw a few high schools with extremely high traffic to pages related to these topics. Needless to say businesses in these areas should keep an eye out for minor students who may be carrying a fake ID.

1. Maui High School, Kahului, HI
2. Mt. Diablo High School, Concord, CA
3. Cincinnati Country Day School, Cincinnati, OH
4. Valley Stream Central High, Valley Stream, NY
5. William S. Hart Union High, Santa Clarita, CA
6. Kern High School, Bakersfield, CA
7. The Galloway School, Atlanta, GA
8. Willis High School, Willis, TX
9. Wilmington Friends School, Wilmington, DE
10. YULA Boys High School, Los Angeles

Fake IDs put minors at risk for underage drinking, and bar owners at risk for liability associated with DUIs, accidents, and alcohol poisoning by minors who purchase alcohol at their establishment. 12.5% of high schoolers admit to possessing a fake ID at some point. 

Why Fake IDs Are A Problem For Businesses

Fake IDs have improved significantly over the years and have become harder to recognize. With the right ID scanner, a business can differentiate of-age customers from underage customers. Because fake IDs have been so refined over time, it has become harder to distinguish the real IDs from the fake ones. A violation of underage drinking can result in bars/restaurants losing their liquor license or complete shutdown, so businesses should proceed with caution when letting people into their establishments. 

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