Internet False Identification Prevention Act of 2000

Citation: Internet False Identification Act of 2000, Pub. L. No. 106-578, 114 Stat. 3075 (Dec. 28, 2000), codified at 18 U.S.C §§1001, 1028.

The Act amended the False Identification Crime Control Act of 1982 to encompass computer-aided false identity crimes. Essentially, the Act expanded the scope of the fraudulent identification document crime to include document transfer by electronic means. One of the main goals of the Act was to end the distribution of counterfeit identification documents over the Internet.

According to the FDIC, the Act closed “a loophole left by the ID Theft Act, [enabling] law enforcement agencies to pursue those who formerly could sell counterfeit social security cards legally by maintaining the fiction that such cards were 'novelties' rather than counterfeit documents.” As a result, the statute now accounts for computer-facilitated crimes of false identity and prohibits the possession, production, or transfer of false identification documents or identification documents that were not legally issued to the possessor. It also prohibits the production, transfer, or possession of any "document making implement" that is intended for use manufacturing false identification documents.