How to distinguish fake licenses from real ones?

Signs of a fake

A driver's license that has not gone through the production process at the traffic police or with which some additional manipulations have been performed will be considered counterfeit.

How to distinguish fake licenses from real ones? According to a number of signs:

  • The license was prepared on a homemade form. This is clearly visible, especially since the new traffic police forms have special protection.
  • Traces of cleaned text, on top of which a new one was applied.
  • Pasted photo on old forms.
  • The series and number of the certificate have been changed.
  • There are no or very few red fibers on older forms.
  • Poor quality lamination.
  • There is no luminescent paint applied to the license plate. They will not glow orange when exposed to infrared radiation.
  • Uneven font and skewed lines.
  • The text is not always easy to read.
  • No watermarks on old forms.
  • On the old licenses the background of the photo is not red.
  • Unevenly placed category data.
  • The remaining categories are not numbered with asterisks.
  • The date format is incorrect (should be dd.mm.yyyy).
  • The stamp on the driver’s personal data must contain the code of the traffic police department that issued the license and the code of the employee who issued it.

In addition to these, there may be other signs by which you can distinguish counterfeit licenses. All of them are visible by non-compliance with the requirements for the design of old and new forms. The new forms have more degrees of protection than the old ones. Therefore, it is better to exchange the rights for new ones in order to reduce the risk of counterfeiting them in case of loss.

Fake license


Even the most elaborate copy of a counterfeit driver's license “will be revealed by careful examination by a traffic officer.

A counterfeit of a document such as a driver's license is considered to be any independent manipulation or creation and sale of a certificate that has not gone through the entire manufacturing process in a special workshop of one of the territorial branches of the traffic police. Because only this government agency has the right to issue and produce driver’s licenses.

The use of such rights is punished quite severely.

Fake licenses State Traffic Inspectorate employees identify a number of signs by which falsification can be determined: Important: new forms of driver’s licenses are much more difficult to counterfeit, since their protection has been improved. How to recognize The approach to how to fake it yourself involves partial or complete falsification. According to Russian legislation, a driver's license must be produced using special equipment, and it is issued at traffic police departments or in the offices of multifunctional centers. How to distinguish counterfeit money from real money on the machine? Any document that was produced independently is considered counterfeit.

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How to identify fake licenses using an ultraviolet detector?

This is the easiest way, since both old and new driver's license forms have ultraviolet protection marks.

On old-style licenses, when checked with a UV detector, you will see:

  • Security hairs are red, green and blue (can be seen in the 365 and 395 nm spectra).
  • Bright green traffic police inscription on the vertical section of the back side of the form (in the 365 nm spectrum).

The new sample forms have a frame around the photo that glows green when exposed to UV rays. And the series and number of the ID become orange when illuminated by ultraviolet light.

How to distinguish fake licenses from real ones?

How to distinguish fake licenses from real ones?

In Russia, people are constantly caught for driving with a fake license. It would seem that getting real rights is not difficult. But people still resort to deception, risking being prosecuted. For those who are engaged in the production of false documents, this is, of course, a good business. But they usually face punishment for such attempts to make dishonest money.

Signs of a fake

A driver's license that has not gone through the production process at the traffic police or with which some additional manipulations have been performed will be considered counterfeit.

How to distinguish fake licenses from real ones? According to a number of signs:

  • The license was prepared on a homemade form. This is clearly visible, especially since the new traffic police forms have special protection.
  • Traces of cleaned text, on top of which a new one was applied.
  • Pasted photo on old forms.
  • The series and number of the certificate have been changed.
  • There are no or very few red fibers on older forms.
  • Poor quality lamination.
  • There is no luminescent paint applied to the license plate. They will not glow orange when exposed to infrared radiation.
  • Uneven font and skewed lines.
  • The text is not always easy to read.
  • No watermarks on old forms.
  • On the old licenses the background of the photo is not red.
  • Unevenly placed category data.
  • The remaining categories are not numbered with asterisks.
  • The date format is incorrect (should be dd.mm.yyyy).
  • The stamp on the driver’s personal data must contain the code of the traffic police department that issued the license and the code of the employee who issued it.

In addition to these, there may be other signs by which you can distinguish counterfeit licenses. All of them are visible by non-compliance with the requirements for the design of old and new forms. The new forms have more degrees of protection than the old ones. Therefore, it is better to exchange the rights for new ones in order to reduce the risk of counterfeiting them in case of loss.

How to identify fake licenses using an ultraviolet detector?

This is the easiest way, since both old and new driver's license forms have ultraviolet protection marks.

On old-style licenses, when checked with a UV detector, you will see:

  • Security hairs are red, green and blue (can be seen in the 365 and 395 nm spectra).
  • Bright green traffic police inscription on the vertical section of the back side of the form (in the 365 nm spectrum).

The new sample forms have a frame around the photo that glows green when exposed to UV rays. And the series and number of the ID become orange when illuminated by ultraviolet light.

Criminal Code on forgery of a driver's license

Since fake licenses are not registered by the traffic police, they are not in the database. This means that at the very first check against the database, a fake will be detected even if the document itself is carefully prepared and differences from a real ID cannot be visually identified immediately.

You cannot insure yourself and undergo a technical inspection using such a certificate, since in this case it will also be checked against the database.

The essence of violations when falsifying driving documents is reflected in Article 327 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. Namely:

  • Complete fake.
  • Partial fake.
  • Use and distribution of false identities.
  • Their intentional or unintentional use.
  • Harboring criminals who are engaged in falsifying licenses.

If a person faces a fine for an unintentional violation of the law, then malicious fraudsters will face imprisonment.

Punishment for fake licenses

If there are signs of falsification of a driver’s license, in addition to the already mentioned Article 327 of the Criminal Code, Article 12.7 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation may be applied to the violator. Administrative penalties are provided for driving with a fake license.

Criminal punishment under Article 327 applies to persons over 16 years of age.

Punishment for the production and sale of counterfeit licenses

This crime is classified under the first part of Article 327. The following sanctions are provided for it:

As a rule, it is not too difficult to prove the commission of such a crime, so liability for forgery of documents occurs in most cases of falsification.

Have a question for a lawyer? Ask now, call and get a free consultation from leading lawyers in your city. We will answer your questions quickly and try to help with your specific case.

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Punishment for driving on a fake, someone else's, mirror license

In addition to administrative punishment for driving with a fake license, the law also provides for criminal punishment, under Part 3 of Article 327.

In this case, the violator faces:

It follows from this that even the use of false licenses, without participating in their forgery, can result in a criminal case for a person.

Sanction for driving a vehicle with a fake license under the Code of Administrative Offenses

As for the sanctions under Article 12.7 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation, this is a fine of 5 to 15 thousand rubles for driving without a license, which is equivalent to driving with a fake license. That is, administrative and criminal punishment in this case can be applied simultaneously.

If the reason for falsifying a license was their deprivation, the fine will be 30 thousand, or an administrative arrest will be imposed for 15 days or compulsory work for 100-200 hours.

The car is then towed to the impound lot.

Reasons for forging a driver's license

Everyone understands that it is possible to distinguish fake licenses from real ones by looking at photos, and that falsifying them threatens criminal penalties, but they are still forged. The most common reasons for such actions are:

  • Reluctance to waste time studying at a driving school or fear of passing the traffic police exam.
  • Deprivation of rights.
  • The need to change to a car with a manual transmission, if you only have a license for a car with an automatic transmission.
  • Having diseases that prevent you from passing a medical examination.

All this pushes people to commit crimes in the field of forging a driver’s license.

What will the traffic police officer pay attention to when checking the validity of your license?

First of all, when checking documents, pay attention to:

  • Scuffs in places where text was applied, visible changes.
  • Re-glued photo on old-style letterhead.
  • Poorly printed or skewed text on the license.
  • Incorrect spelling of the date (for example, the month is written as a word, not a number).
  • Incorrect filling of data on driver's license categories.

All this will immediately allow the traffic police officer to distinguish fake licenses from real ones.

What to do if a traffic police officer detects a fake?

Sooner or later the fake ID will be recognized. If this has already happened, you need to:

  • Don't panic, behave calmly.
  • Contact a lawyer and follow his recommendations.
  • Do not hide the information of those who sold these licenses to the driver. This way he will relieve himself of responsibility for producing false documents and harboring the criminals who produced them.
  • Follow the instructions of the traffic police officers, unless they contradict the words of the lawyer.

All this will allow you to get off with the least punishment. But this does not mean that a criminal case will not be opened at all, because falsifying a driver’s license is a serious offense.

Source: https://ruadvocate.ru/vidy-prestuplenij/kak-otlichit-poddelnye-prava-ot-nastoyashhix/

Criminal Code on forgery of a driver's license

Since fake licenses are not registered by the traffic police, they are not in the database. This means that at the very first check against the database, a fake will be detected even if the document itself is carefully prepared and differences from a real ID cannot be visually identified immediately.

You cannot insure yourself and undergo a technical inspection using such a certificate, since in this case it will also be checked against the database.

The essence of violations when falsifying driving documents is reflected in Article 327 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. Namely:

  • Complete fake.
  • Partial fake.
  • Use and distribution of false identities.
  • Their intentional or unintentional use.
  • Harboring criminals who are engaged in falsifying licenses.

If a person faces a fine for an unintentional violation of the law, then malicious fraudsters will face imprisonment.

Signs of a fake driver's license

Forgery of a driver's license is a criminal offense. Art. 327 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation defines a special penalty for the production and use of false documents.

Falsified, illegally manufactured and sold rights in various ways are exactly the same case.

It is important not only to know how to identify a fake, but also to understand the procedure if such a “document” falls into the hands of the driver.

What traffic police officers recommend paying attention to

Forgery of a document such as a driver's license refers to any state-sanctioned attempts to create and sell documents that have not gone through a full production process in special workshops owned by the State Traffic Safety Inspectorate. Only this organization has the right to produce and issue driver's licenses.

Employees of the State Traffic Inspectorate identify a number of signs by which falsification can be determined:

  • Homemade handicraft form.
  • Clearly “overwritten” text on a document, applying new data to this area.
  • On old-style ID cards, the owner’s photo may be pasted over.
  • There are noticeable irregularities in the font, the lines are beveled and poorly printed.
  • The text is unreadable.
  • The background of the photo, provided that the form is created according to the old model, is not red, but any other color.
  • The month in the date of issue is not written in numbers, but written in words.
  • Information about categories located on the back side is displayed with errors, not fully and without corresponding images.

Important: new driver's license forms are much more difficult to counterfeit, since their security has been improved. Therefore, it is better to consciously replace old documents, which will maximally protect the owner in a situation where the vehicle is stolen along with the license or if it is lost.

The law does not oblige the exchange of old licenses with those made according to a new model, so some owners are simply waiting for the right moment to change the document. It usually comes at the end of the validity period. But the law allows the car owner to contact the traffic police at any time regarding the issue of replacing the license.

How to recognize a fake ID yourself

Now it’s not news to anyone that cunning businessmen through the media offer registration of “real” rights at a reasonable price and in a short time. Irresponsible car owners resort to their services quite often, which gives them the opportunity to ignore the lengthy learning process at a driving school.

Naturally, counterfeit licenses can cause a lot of problems for other road users. For example, in the case of an accident, this will greatly complicate the procedure for establishing the degree of guilt of each participant.

There are specific signs of a fake driver's license; to detect them you must have:

  • magnifying glass;
  • ultraviolet lamp;
  • real driver's license.

So, in order to identify a fake ID, you need to study in detail the paper layer located under the laminate film. This is done using a magnifying glass and comparison with real rights.

The paper of this document is fibrous, has security watermarks and a special “grid” that protects against counterfeiting. In the light of an ultraviolet lamp, the inscription “RUS” clearly appears on the form.

Red fibers are also visible, invisible to the eye in daylight or electric light.

Next, you need to check the usefulness of the design of the column about the category of rights. On this document, information about the vehicle control category is recorded in a specially designated cell, and all others are marked with asterisks. Now comes the turn to check the dates stamped on the ID. On a real ID it will look like this: dd.mm.yyyy.

On the reverse side of these rights there is information about vehicle categories. And in addition, you should consider the main stamp located next to the information about the owner. It has the abbreviation “GIBDD” and two numbers:

  • special code at the top;
  • The code of the traffic police inspector who issued the certificate is below.

Important: the main distinguishing feature of a fake is the lack of protection with watermarks, fibers and marks visible only in ultraviolet light.

Distinctive features of a real driver's license.

And of course, you shouldn’t trust companies that promise quick and trouble-free obtaining of rights . If such a certificate is discovered by a traffic police officer, the owner faces a trial and a fine, and in the presence of aggravating circumstances, criminal liability and imprisonment.

What is called partial falsification of a document?

Despite the concept of “partial”, such falsification still entails punishment under the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. Schemes used by scammers to issue fake driver’s licenses also fall under a similar interpretation:

  • They produce “urgent” licenses, while ignoring the procedure for entering them into the unified traffic police database.
  • They issue a certificate using the citizen’s real data, but indicating a different region of residence, since this helps to save on transport tax.
  • They make duplicates, preserving all the necessary attributes, including signs, categories, numbers, etc., but at the same time paste in another photo and put someone else’s name. In fraudulent circles, this method is called “donor”.
  • Deception can also be committed with the help of State Traffic Inspectorate employees. When a license is issued in one city, and the driver is registered in another, the traffic police inspector is obliged to send a corresponding request to the place of registration. For a fee, this part of the procedure can be ignored.

What the law says about the production and use of counterfeit licenses

Naturally, the fake is not registered in any of the territorial centers of the State Traffic Safety Inspectorate; there is no data about it in the archives of government agencies and insurance companies. The first traffic inspector who wants to check the documents will find gaps in the database and the offense will be immediately discovered.

The same outcome awaits those who attempt to insure a car or undergo a technical inspection procedure, since the unified EAISTO database also contains data on the driving license regarding the identity of the owner.

The law, namely Art. 327 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, the definition of fake driver's licenses is clearly stated, including their typical and specific features. In addition, the legal act also reflects other offenses committed with the document. The crime of falsifying documents means:

  • A complete fake of the VU.
  • Partial forgery of the VU.
  • Use and distribution of false rights.
  • Use of counterfeit with or without intent.
  • Concealing persons involved in the production or sale of false licenses.

Each case has its own punishment and penalties affecting both the offender and his accomplices. Currently Art.

327 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation is supplemented by federal regulations, for example, Law No. 63 of June 13, 1996, according to which violators can receive suspended sentences without isolation from society.

Imprisonment remains pending before the court and depends on the severity of the crime and the consequences to which it led.

If caught with a counterfeit

Even if the driver had no idea that he was using a false license, this does not diminish his responsibility. In any case, the owner of the counterfeit will need legal assistance.

When you are detained, you should not panic and be rude to the traffic police officer. You need to ask for a call required by law and contact any driver assistance service in difficult situations.

It is recommended to follow everything that the service specialists advise.

Provide the inspector with all contacts of the persons from whom the fake document was received. Write down as complete information as possible about the organization issuing the license and contact a state-provided defense attorney with it.

Important: any instructions from police officers and traffic police officers can only be followed after their approval by a lawyer!

There is no point in hoping that you will be able to drive a vehicle for a long time with a fake license in your hands. The patrol inspector only needs to scan the document to understand that it is a fake.

The problems that such a document will bring are much larger and more serious than those that arise during the legal completion of a driving school course.

Car owners who once fall for such fraud will remain on a kind of black list with traffic police officers for the rest of the time.

Source: https://auto-lawyer.org/voditelskie-prava/priznaki-poddelki-voditelskogo-udostovereniya.html

Punishment for fake licenses

If there are signs of falsification of a driver’s license, in addition to the already mentioned Article 327 of the Criminal Code, Article 12.7 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation may be applied to the violator. Administrative penalties are provided for driving with a fake license.

Criminal punishment under Article 327 applies to persons over 16 years of age.

Punishment for the production and sale of counterfeit licenses

This crime is classified under the first part of Article 327. The following sanctions are provided for it:

  • Arrest for up to six months.
  • Forced labor for up to 2 years.
  • Probation for up to 2 years.
  • Imprisonment for up to 2 years.

As a rule, it is not too difficult to prove the commission of such a crime, so liability for forgery of documents occurs in most cases of falsification.

Have a question for a lawyer? Ask now, call and get a free consultation from leading lawyers in your city. We will answer your questions quickly and try to help with your specific case.

Telephone in Moscow and the Moscow region: +7

Phone in St. Petersburg and Leningrad region: +7

Free hotline throughout Russia: 8 (800) 301-39-20

Punishment for driving on a fake, someone else's, mirror license

In addition to administrative punishment for driving with a fake license, the law also provides for criminal punishment, under Part 3 of Article 327.

In this case, the violator faces:

  • A fine of up to 80 thousand rubles or in the amount of six months’ income.
  • Compulsory work for 480 hours.
  • Correctional labor for up to 2 years.
  • Arrest for up to six months.

It follows from this that even the use of false licenses, without participating in their forgery, can result in a criminal case for a person.

How to distinguish fake licenses from real ones?

Sanction for driving a vehicle with a fake license under the Code of Administrative Offenses

As for the sanctions under Article 12.7 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation, this is a fine of 5 to 15 thousand rubles for driving without a license, which is equivalent to driving with a fake license. That is, administrative and criminal punishment in this case can be applied simultaneously.

If the reason for falsifying a license was their deprivation, the fine will be 30 thousand, or an administrative arrest will be imposed for 15 days or compulsory work for 100-200 hours.

The car is then towed to the impound lot.

What happens to a fake driver's license?

The stamp must contain both the name of the institution and the code of the traffic police specialist who prepared the document. So, a fake driver's license can bring a lot of problems to its owner. Of course, dishonest sellers can assure that the driver’s licenses they produce are registered in the traffic police database, but a prudent driver will never commit an obvious offense.

In 2021, it is not difficult for anyone to find an advertisement on the Internet for the sale of counterfeit driver’s licenses.

  • imposition of a fine (in the amount of 80,000 rubles or wages for the last six months);
  • forced labor (for 480 hours);
  • arrest (up to six months);
  • correctional labor (no more than two years).

In this case, the driver will then have to pay a considerable amount to return his car back.

Reasons for forging a driver's license

Everyone understands that it is possible to distinguish fake licenses from real ones by looking at photos, and that falsifying them threatens criminal penalties, but they are still forged. The most common reasons for such actions are:

  • Reluctance to waste time studying at a driving school or fear of passing the traffic police exam.
  • Deprivation of rights.
  • The need to change to a car with a manual transmission, if you only have a license for a car with an automatic transmission.
  • Having diseases that prevent you from passing a medical examination.

All this pushes people to commit crimes in the field of forging a driver’s license.

Options for falsifying driving documents

Any manipulation to change documents is considered a violation of the law. But, nevertheless, there are two main types of such manipulations - complete fake and partial.

Complete fake

In this case, the driver's license is made on a false form and all the data on it is also false.

How to distinguish fake licenses from real ones based on photos is described in detail above. It is with complete forgery that most of the signs of document falsification will be visible.

Partial fake

In this case, some changes are made to these rights:

  • The validity period of the rights changes. Often, after the expiration date, drivers for some reason cannot re-register them and take this step.
  • Production of mirror rights. In this case, a photo of the driver is pasted onto the other person’s existing license. Checking the database of such rights does not give anything. To identify a fake, you need to check them with your passport.
  • Change region. Drivers who have lost their license take advantage of this.

But you need to understand that purchasing rights to another region does not cancel the fact of deprivation. If it is revealed, then even the real rights of another region will be considered illegal.

What will the traffic police officer pay attention to when checking the validity of your license?

First of all, when checking documents, pay attention to:

  • Scuffs in places where text was applied, visible changes.
  • Re-glued photo on old-style letterhead.
  • Poorly printed or skewed text on the license.
  • Incorrect spelling of the date (for example, the month is written as a word, not a number).
  • Incorrect filling of data on driver's license categories.

All this will immediately allow the traffic police officer to distinguish fake licenses from real ones.

What to do if a traffic police officer detects a fake?

Sooner or later the fake ID will be recognized. If this has already happened, you need to:

  • Don't panic, behave calmly.
  • Contact a lawyer and follow his recommendations.
  • Do not hide the information of those who sold these licenses to the driver. This way he will relieve himself of responsibility for producing false documents and harboring the criminals who produced them.
  • Follow the instructions of the traffic police officers, unless they contradict the words of the lawyer.

All this will allow you to get off with the least punishment. But this does not mean that a criminal case will not be opened at all, because falsifying a driver’s license is a serious offense.

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