Fake student IDs getting fresh graduates real discounts
Come graduation time, students are not just reluctant to give up campus life, but also all those great student discounts. And grads still looking to cash in on the half-price student train tickets, park entrance tickets and discount movie tickets they’ve grown used to have been the driving force for Beijing’s booming fake ID market.
Located near Zhongguancun with its large student population and constant flow of foot traffic, the east gate of Renmin University of China makes for an ideal marketplace for fake IDs, many vendors not hesitating to walk up to passersby and openly solicit their line of “products”.
Li, a student, told the Global Times he spent 30 yuan ($4.39) on a custom made fake ID from China University of Political Science and Law, the whole process taking only several minutes.
“I brought my photo to the vendor. She asked me to stand to the side and minutes later, she came over with my ID. I just had to fill in the blanks with my info,” said Li.
“Most sellers are women who are either pregnant or holding a baby, who if they’re caught by police have a better chance of getting off the hook,” he added.
Li, a student at Wuhan University, told the Global Times that he got an internship in Beijing this year. In Beijing’s Haidian District, he found the fake ID market near Renmin University and bought one.
“Since I’m from Xinjiang, I can only buy half-priced student tickets between Wuhan and Xinjiang. But if I have a Beijing university ID, I can save over 70 yuan on tickets to Wuhan from Beijing. As long as it’s valid, I can use it as often as I need to. It’s totally worth it.”
However, these bargain hunters are taking a big risk, something Li is quite aware of.
“Once when I went to buy a ticket at Beijing West Station, a student in front of me got caught using a fake student ID. I immediately got out of line and went to a train ticket outlet instead.”
Wang, a clerk at the Summer Palace ticket office, told the Global Times that ever since summer vacation began, nearly half of student IDs used have been found to be fakes. Usually after being confronted, most of these counterfeit carriers awkwardly cough up the rest of the money for a full-price ticket.
“It’s common to see fake ID makers on the street as if they’re a legitimate business. It’s totally wrong. I will never try and save money by cheating others,” Ning Xin, 21, a student at Beijing Normal University, told the Global Times.
“I think it’s Ok for a student to buy a fake ID, because some train tickets are not so cheap. But still it’s not right for graduates to buy fakes. Besides, they’ve already got money,” Zhao Wenqian, 19 and a student at Wuhan University, told the Global Times
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