A Game-Changing App Intelligently Exposes Fake or Stolen IDs

PORT TOWNSEND, Wash., Aug. 29, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- In the 2002 film The Bourne Identity, Matt Damon's character, Jason Bourne, a CIA-trained assassin, has a cache of fake passports, driver's licenses and credit cards that allow him to easily assume different identities and move around the world. In real life, it is not as easy. That said, fake IDs – "doctored" driver's licenses, stolen credit cards and other forms of identification that do not rightfully belong to the person who hands them over – is a huge societal problem. 

For example, teenagers use these falsified or "borrowed" forms of identification to engage in underage drinking. They may buy alcohol, restricted prescription drugs or cigarettes, and engage in dangerous behavior under the influence – sometimes with deadly results – behind the wheel of a car or elsewhere. In addition to the harm they can do to themselves and others, they also endanger merchants, nightclub owners, government personnel and others who can find themselves facing serious fines, loss of licenses and criminal charges when underage persons slip by them.

While ignorance is no defense, the truth is that it is not easy to spot transgressors. Not every underage person looks underage, especially a teenage girl sporting makeup. In busy nightclubs, restaurants and bars – even in banks and retail stores – the harried bouncer, clerk or other gatekeeper can be taken in, and live to regret it.

Now these at-risk gatekeepers no longer need to suffer those after-the-fact regrets and consequences, thanks to a new app called barZapp™. An easy-to-use ID verification and security app for mobile and handheld devices, barZapp was created by the mobile security experts at Intellicheck Mobilisa, Inc., based in Port Townsend, Wash. The app quickly and effectively exposes fake IDs, expired or misappropriated drivers' licenses, false military and government IDs, etc.  

First, the barZapp user downloads the app onto their smartphone. They simply aim it at the barcode on the offered ID. This allows them to read, verify, display and analyze its authenticity by reading and verifying the encoded data. Doing so tells them if the ID is genuine and to whom it really belongs. The backbone of barZapp – Intellicheck Mobilisa's patented ID Check software – also keeps track of who was scanned and the time and date of the scan.

"We saw an issue, and wanted to help solve it," says Nelson Ludlow, Ph.D., Intellicheck Mobilisa's Chief Executive Officer. "We are very proud of barZapp, not only because it will save millions of dollars and a great deal of trouble for business owners and other stakeholders, but most of all because using it can protect young people from themselves."

For more on barZapp and Intellicheck Mobilisa, visit http://www.icmobil.com/.

Contact:   Enrique Briz, Dian Griesel Int'l.  212.825.3210

SOURCE Intellicheck Mobilisa, Inc.