AP Wire Service

Making a fake driver's license would mean facing a felony and up to five years in prison under legislation unanimously approved Tuesday by a state House committee.

A person convicted under the legislation approved by the state House Criminal Justice Committee also could face up to a $10,000 fine. The legislation now goes to the full House.

Rep. Jennifer Faunce (R-Warren) wants the change because the purpose of fake IDs has shifted from trying to sneak a beer to widespread credit-card fraud.

``Technology is moving so fast. It's changed in just the past six months. [Fake licenses] are used to buy cars,'' Faunce told The Detroit News for a Sunday story. ``Stores can lose tens of thousands, even hundreds of thousands of dollars because of this.''

The legislation is intended to curb the increasing amount of identity theft cases in Michigan, where people lose millions of dollars because of the high-tech equipment that can make an almost exact driver's license.

Producing high-quality, fake ID cards has grown easier using the Internet, computers and photo scanners.

Michigan switched several years ago to updated licenses with the state seal embedded in them and magnetic stripes on the back. But few people at bars and stores check the authenticity of licenses.

Under the legislation, penalties would depend on what an offender intended to do with a fake license. For example, a teen-ager who had a fake license to buy alcohol would face a misdemeanor punishable by up to a year in prison and up to a $2,000 fine. But a person who used a fake license with another individual's information to open a credit card would face a felony and up to five years in prison.

Craig Doherty, a special agent for the Secretary of State's Office, said improving technology is making it harder to detect a fake driver's license.

``We're into a new generation of counterfeiting,'' Doherty told the committee. ``The technology that people have is unbelievable.''

Doherty said computer programs allow people to create fake driver's licenses with only a person's name and birth date. A fake license allows counterfeiters to apply for a credit with another person's information.

While it's only a misdemeanor now to make a fake driver's license or state identification card, it's a felony to receive either one using another person's information from the Secretary of State.

The Wayne County Sheriff's Department has found $500,000 in identity-fraud losses in the past six months, Sheriff Robert Ficano said.

``It's bad enough when a youngster is doing it to get a drink when they're not old enough,'' he said, ``but it's worse when people are destroying someone's credit history.''

The Federal Trade Commission, which began studying identity theft nationwide in November 1999, found that Detroit is one of the five leading cities in the country for suspects stealing identities.