Originally Posted by michaelchertoff
Sure, if ID were the only layer of security. It isn't. Remember CAPPS and it's variations? These profiling tools would catch the warning signs of fake identities.
Not if the fake identities are new...or foreign. It is easier than you think to create an identity that is 'off the radar', then use it for nefarious purposes.
In some cases it's much easier for them to steal an existing identity that is 'clean'; on the radar, but clean. Many a deceased person from small town America or Canada has been 'resurrected' in this way.
All these profiling systems have weaknesses that are not difficult to exploit. If someone on Flyertalk knows how to do it, I am most certain a highly trained criminal enterprise has it all figured out.