Hi, I’m George Gerbo, and welcome to Washington Times Weekly, where we get the chance to sit down with our reporters and dig into their coverage of the latest news and events.
Joining me today is Washington Times general assignment and culture reporter Sean Salai.
[GERBO] Let’s start with something that’s been a hot topic for a lot of Americans, and that’s Real ID. The deadline for implementation finally came on May 7th. Not as many crazy issues at airports as some people might have expected. The Department of Homeland Security is doing a slower warning process and not immediately banning people from getting on airplanes if you do not have a Real ID. But there’s still some problems, as you’ve written about, or potential problems that could be for some Americans in dealing with fraud and potential abuse of these Real IDs, especially for older Americans.
[SALAI] Absolutely, the Federal Trade Commission reported an enormous surge in government imposter scams from 2023 to 2024. And the Better Business Bureau recently put out an alert that said, be on the lookout for similar scams with Real ID. I’ve spoken to a number of people, including LexisNexis risk solutions, which works with the federal government to combat these schemes, and they say there’s an incredible surge of scams out there, which come in the form of text messages, emails, and social media ads with fake websites, and essentially they’re targeting anybody who is just waking up to the Real ID phenomenon.
[SALAI] So people who are maybe latecomers and didn’t realize this has been going on for the past 20 years, that the government has been pushing people to get this stricter form of identification. They’re also targeting immigrants, both legal and illegal, and also senior citizens, people with mobility issues who maybe think, “Oh, maybe I can get this Real ID without actually going to a DMV or in Maryland, an MVA branch.”
[SALAI] The reality is that the federal government needs you there in person. You need to have your ID in hand. That means government documents like a Social Security card, a birth certificate, and there’s no way around it. The reason for this is that after 9/11, Congress decided to strengthen the security requirements to get identification to fly in the United States. So the Real ID is necessary to get on a plane now. It’s necessary to enter federal buildings. In essence, it’s something that we’ve known has been coming for a long time.
Watch the video to see the full conversation
