Identity document forgery is basically the act by which legal identity documents officially issued by governmental bodies are altered and/or copied by unauthorized persons not entitled to make such copies or tamper with the documents, for the reason of deceiving people who may view the documents on behalf of the bearer or about the individual's identity or state of identity. Such an act of identity forgery may be committed by anybody, without limitation, even the government officials, police officers and the like. In fact, these acts of id theft have become serious and widespread problems that may affect the economic, social and political well-being of a nation. Thus, it is very important that any state or country should effectively prevent its citizens from falling victim to this grave crime. Therefore, the National Identity Improvement Program has been formed in United States to help stop forgeries, as well as to improve the functioning of official institutions such as the IRS, Social Security Administration, Border Control, Department of Motor Vehicles, etc., and protect the individuals from identity theft.

There are two major types of fakes in the country: the "stamp" and "duplicate cards". The "stamp" is the most common form of id forgery in the country. With the help of a stamp, any person may forge the official copy of an identification document that shows his true identity. The "duplicate card" is a fake card that is usually produced by the manufacturer as a backup, when the original one is damaged, lost or stolen. The "middle initial" found between the front and back of an authentic card is what makes these duplicates difficult to recognize and detest.

The National Security Agency (NSA) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) have set up a Visual Identification System (VIDS) to detect, test and provide appropriate warnings whenever fake ids are found on individuals. VIDS is a procedure adopted in response to increasing cases of id theft and other forms of fraud. It provides a visual image of how a particular piece of documentation matches to known data of a particular individual.

An examination of security features on an individual document typically helps in identifying and detesting Fake ids. It would be useful in determining the complete picture of a person. The visual inspection consists of a series of tests, which evaluate the visual aspects of an ID. It is made up of a series of tests like checking for alterations, detecting photocopying, seeing if the information presented by an individual is truly the same as what has been mentioned in the document, and so on.

A fake ids can be detected through a VIDS examination, which allows for detecting whether all information presented by the cardholder is accurate. The visual inspection also detects if the name on the card matches with the one presented on the ID. This test is conducted under laboratory conditions, but it can easily be done in an office. There are various ways to defeat a VIDS test. For instance, an individual may have a middle initial that is different from the other details on the card.

A fake identification card that contains a middle initial is detected using a VIDS test. If this test finds out that the middle initial is different, the test can be defeated by simply adjusting the ID for that particular cardholder. A VIDS test cannot detect whether all information on a card is real or counterfeit. There are some cards that contain numbers, which cannot be verified using a VIDS examination. This is because a VIDS system cannot differentiate between a series of random numbers and a particular number. It only focuses on a particular pattern on the cardholder's documents.