Do you ever catch your 12-year-old mumbling words like “blockchain” or “satoshis”? Has your teenage daughter ever arrived home after curfew, stumbling drunk, looking like she’s been ridden hard and put up wet?
Police in Darien, Connecticut, is warning parents that a new Darknet cryptocurrency called Bitcoin could be to blame. Many young people now buy high-quality fake IDs online using the deep web currency. Typically teens are asked to pay between $100 and $200 for the fraudulent fun passes.
In recent weeks, police have confiscated several counterfeit IDs, said Sgt. Jeremiah Marron. Many of the fakes are professional quality and nearly indistinguishable from authentic IDs, Marron said.
Young people and their parents need to realize that obtaining fraudulent identification is a serious crime with potential criminal consequences, although their teenager may only be using a fake ID to buy alcohol or get into a bar, driver’s licenses are official government-issued documents.
They Sext with their classmates, Instagram R-rated selfies, and order fake IDs using freshly minted cyber tokens they’ve mined on their bedroom PCs.
Those who carry a fake ID could be charged with second-degree forgery, a Class D felony with a penalty of up to five years in jail and a $5,000 fine.
Is Bitcoin to blame? What can parents do to stop this madness? Log in below using your favorite social network and weigh in on the discussion.