[Anchor]

These days, many people use the mobile resident registration card verification service for identity authentication, even in offline settings. Bars and convenience stores often use this to verify if a customer is an adult. However, experts warn that relying on a simple visual check makes it easy to be deceived by AI-generated fake IDs, and that scanning the QR code is the safer approach.

Reporter Dong Eun-young has the story.

[Reporter]

Three men sitting in a bar suddenly jump up and try to flee, but the owner blocks them with his body.

On the evening of June 20, teenagers at a restaurant in Geumcheon-gu, Seoul, were caught trying to order alcohol after presenting forged mobile IDs.

[Jeong Sang-heon/Victimized Business Owner: I told them I would check their resident registration cards. They opened an app I had never seen before and showed it to me. It looked exactly the same. The screen looked identical, but...]

Police arrived following the owner's report, but two of the individuals had already fled, and the one remaining had already deleted the app used to forge the ID.

The police confirmed that they were minors, but with no remaining evidence, they were all released with a warning.

Our news team used the same AI program the teenagers showed the owner to create a forged mobile ID ourselves.

After entering a few simple commands, a fake ID was completed in no time, allowing us to customize the photo, name, and date of birth.

This is a mobile ID created in just 10 minutes using an AI program.

When compared to an actual ID, it is difficult to spot any major differences.

Unlike in the past, when people would present someone else's physical ID or use Photoshop to swap photos, the methods of forgery are becoming increasingly sophisticated.

[Ahn Ji-sung/Lawyer: In the past, you had to commission a professional, but now it is at a level where a student can do it alone. If you just enter the right prompts, committing the crime has become easier.]

In the case of mobile IDs, authenticity can be verified by scanning a QR code, but many business owners are too busy or are unaware of this method.

[Jo Han-na/General Manager, Yeonmu Alley-type Shopping District in Suwon: Older business owners just see the mobile ID and think it is legitimate. If a verification app could be distributed, I think the merchants in the shopping district would actively use it.]

Forging an ID using AI, which takes only 10 minutes, can lead to criminal punishment for crimes such as forgery of official documents and violation of the Resident Registration Act.

(Video reporting: Joo Yong-jin, Kim Seung-tae | Video editing: Lee So-young)