KENT, Ohio — Spotting an underage drinker at the front door has transformed from a quick glance into a high-stakes battle against perfect replicas. Ask 157 Lounge co-owner Matt Guska, and these aren't the same fake IDs that showed up near college campuses years ago.
"It went from using your older sister or older brother's ID to now a perfect replica from any state," Guska said. "Every six months they get better and better, and it's all the right information, right pictures, [they] swipe, [have] UV [security features], everything."
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State officials are seeing the same trend.
"We're seeing a lot more and they're getting better at it," Charlie Norman, the registrar at the Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles, told News 5. "The vast majority of these are folks order them online through a provider in China."
Guska is now calling on the state to provide better training and more leniency on bar owners and staff — and tougher enforcement against suppliers as counterfeit IDs have become nearly impossible to detect.
"We process between 200-500 people on average, and you get good at looking at IDs, but with sheer volume you can't get it all," Guska said.
Guska told News 5 the burden is on staff members to spot a fake ID or else face a ticket and financial penalty from the state.
"The server and bartender are responsible," Guska said. "If these IDs get through, they get a ticket, the restaurant gets a ticket, and for what? These IDs are perfect and they tried their best. We're not US customs. We're not border patrol. We're not TSA."
Guska showed News 5 a bin filled with hundreds and hundreds of fake IDs left behind over the years.
"These are all the ones that we said, 'We're going to call the police; would you like to wait for them?'" Guska said. "Nine times out of 10, they walk away 'cause they don't want the ticket."
Guska said some states' IDs are harder to catch than others.
"The hardest ones I've noticed are California and Florida because we get the fewest of them so we're not looking at those as much," Guska said. "Pennsylvania, Illinois, New York, Indiana, we get those so much that it's a little more obvious."
Guska walked News 5 through how his staff will closely check text alignment, letter thickness, the accuracy of UV security features, and other tips and tricks to spot a fake.
"It's tough," Guska said. "We're supposed to make a decision in 60 seconds, anytime after that usually a customer is going to be annoyed or being, 'What's the problem?' We would never ask a liquor control agent to make a perfect Manhattan in 60 seconds, I don't understand why liquor control wants us to figure out an ID in 60 seconds."
Norman at the BMV said he is encouraging bars and restaurants to embrace Ohio's relatively new mobile IDs for both Apple iPhones and Google Android phones, arguing they are harder to forge.
"We need to take advantage of the next generation of technology to ensure authenticity and one of those options are mobile driver's licenses," Norman said. "We're seeing it used at Ohio casinos, at Ohio State football games. For those age-dependent transactions, I think MDL is the wave of the future."
The Ohio BMV is also set to unveil a new physical ID in July 2027.
"Your card next year will not look like your card this year—there will be a lot of changes to it," Norman said.
Possessing a fake ID is currently a misdemeanor in Ohio. A nationwide push is underway to make penalties stricter to help curb the fake ID market.
Clay LePard is the Ashtabula, Geauga and Portage counties reporter at News 5 Cleveland. Follow him on X @ClayLePard, on Facebook ClayLePardTV or email him at Clay.LePard@wews.com.
