Garda sting catches fraudster selling fake driving licences for €680

A garda pretending to be interested in buying one of the fakes was offered a bogus licence via Whatsapp

A photo showing the front of a fake driving licence which was sent to the garda on Whatsapp. Picture: An Garda Síochána/Instagram

Gardaí are warning people of a driver's licence scam after they caught a fraudster selling bogus licences in a sting operation. 

Gardaí in Kilkenny say they came across a post on Facebook advertising fake driving licences for sale for €680. These posts, one of which has been seen by the Irish Examiner, stated that these bogus licences would be guaranteed to pass any garda checks. The posts also included a phone number.

One garda then assumed the role of an interested buyer and contacted the seller via WhatsApp. The seller told gardaí that he worked "under NDLS" (the National Driver Licence Service) and, as such, the fake licences could even be verified on the NDLS website.

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The seller claimed it would take three days for them to create the fake licence, and that payment could be accepted via PayPal or Revolut.

He then supplied two photographs showing the front and back of a false licence.

When the seller asked the garda for their personal information for the card — first name, last name, date of birth, address and so on — the garda informed them they would provide it later. 

The second part of the conversation between gardaí and the seller of the bogus licences.

Thereafter, they simply sent the seller a photograph of their garda badge along with a note informing them that their entire WhatsApp conversation had been saved.

Gradaí said that the fake licences would not have passed for legitimate ones upon examination by any member of the force, adding that they are likely "not worth the plastic they were printed on". 

The final part of the conversation between gardaí and the fake licence seller.

"For what it’s worth, the sample licences he sent us didn’t pass our scrutiny. Even those back at the station that weren’t up to speed on our sting knew them to be fake," gardaí wrote in a post on social media documenting the operation.

"If you did take the chance and present us with one of these at a checkpoint or on the roadside — it wouldn’t just be the alleged road traffic offences that we would be pursuing but fraud offences too."