A driving license is one of the legit ways to identify ourselves to the authority. If you hold an international driving license in some countries, you won’t need a passport to visit there. So, you can understand how important that little piece of paper is.
So, if you get into situations where you have to send your Driver’s license copy to someone, you should be cautious. And as you are asking, is it safe to send a picture of your Driver’s license to someone? Then you already are.
And to a short answer to that question is it depends. Because some authorities and some frauds will ask for a driver’s license, let us talk a little more in-depth.
When you try to create an account on websites like PayPal, Payoneer, or elsewhere, they ask for identity verification. And the most popular way to verify someone is by their National ID card, Passport, or Driver’s License.
These are authority websites, and they can connect directly to your bank account so you can rely on them. Besides, they have strong web security, so breaching is a very hard task. So, your information is confidential and safe with them.
However, some third-party vendors might ask you for your identity. Let’s take a scenario that you are trying to buy a Netflix account from a random vendor. And he asks you to identify yourself by showing your Driver’s license. That is not safe.
This might result in a scam. Because most of the time, if you try to get something from an unreliable source, it might be a fraud.
And even if he gives you your service or product, there is no guarantee he won’t use your information in illegal activities. So, it is not a wise choice to send your Driver’s license picture to someone randomly.
There might be hundreds of problems you won’t even imagine if your information falls into the wrong hands. We may not highlight all of them, but still, here are some most common problems of sending your Driver’s license.
Information Leaks
When you share your Driver’s license information on a website, still here a chance your details can get leaked. Every day hackers try to breach millions of websites.
World top-rated websites like Facebook, Amazon, etc., are also not safe from hackers.
So, when you send your Driver’s license photo to a weak website or illegal website, either they will steal your identity, or any hacker may leak the data of that website, leading to more problems.
Fake Bank Accounts
As you already know, if you are trying to make a new bank account, you will have to provide some valid documents. A driver’s license is one of those valid documents.
If you send somebody your license copy, they might use it to create an illegal bank account in your name. Most hackers use Driver’s license to create multiple bank account.
Their goal is to withdraw money from the illegal sources to those accounts and claim that money for themselves.
If you didn’t use a virtual credit card yet, then you may not know it takes only an SSN or Driving License to create one. There are thousands of websites where you can use the service for free with a credit card.
But to get a credit card, you will need a bank account which is not possible to create thousands of bank account without any issue. So the best option is using virtual cards.
What a hacker does is that he uses your Driving License to create an account on those virtual credit card service banks/websites and generate credit cards that are issued under your name.
Fake Accounts
Now in the digital era, you can create multiple accounts for Social Media, Bank Accounts, Service Accounts, and much more. And most of the well-established websites will ask for identity verification.
So your preferable choice may be your Driver’s license. But you may find that your license is already used in any other account because you shared it somewhere vulnerable somebody stole your identity.
These are the very common problem you may face if you send your Driver’s license to any fraud. Yet there are some other problems you can face around your country.
Illegal Passing
If you have any special license from your company, there is a high chance of illegal passing in your company garage.
It may sound like a Hollywood film, but if your company deals with many cars, there is a high chance of someone stealing vehicles from your company showing your ID.
And also, they might enter into your company parking lot by forfeiting your Driver’s license.
Unknown Traffic Rules Violation
Every year, many traffic rules violations pass just by issuing a ticket against the Driver’s ID. Your Driver’s license number is all anyone needs to get you into trouble.
It is not necessary to show a driver’s license to traffic police for a traffic rules violation.
When the traffic ticket is issued, no matter who did the crime, the license owner will have to suffer the alligations. You won’t even know how much fine you got for a crime you won’t have committed.
And if a teenager gets hold of your license, he can forge it to ID pass in bars or buy alcohol.
Check Fraud Felony
If your license number is compromised, then you get into some serious trouble for check frauds. Because you don’t have to show your actual license card to submit a check to the bank.
Only writing the license number on the top of the check indicates the license holder issued the check.
Conclusion
It depends on the situation if is it safe to send a picture of your Driver’s license to anyone. On the one hand, you may get some authority to use or enjoy some services.
And on the other hand, if things go in the other, you may find yourself in deep trouble. So be aware before sharing your personal information, like sending an image of your Driver’s license.
