In the checkout line at a nearby supermarket stands a girl holding a fifth of Smirnoff vodka. Trivial, except that the girl is only 16, and US law dictates that it is illegal for anyone under 21 to buy alcohol. But this underage girl, like many other teens, has found a way to bypass that law. She has a fake ID.

“Minors found guilty of possessing a fake ID will go to court and then may face either jail time, community service, or a fine,” said Assistant District Attorney Matthew Golde of the Alameda County Juvenile Justice System.

The specific legal charges for having or using a fake ID are possession of a counterfeit license, making fake IDs, selling and distributing fake IDs, and selling alcohol to minors, Golde said.

If the guilty person is 18 or over, all of these crimes count as felonies and they could face up to a five-year prison sentence and a suspension of their driver’s license.

“Having a fake ID with legitimate personal information is less of a crime than an ID with fake information because this can be charged as identity theft,” Golde said.

Although punishment may be heavy it does not stop PHS students from acquiring fake IDs, mostly to purchase alcohol for themselves or friends.

“A cashier at Seven-Eleven once asked me if it was my fake ID or real ID, but I played it off cool,” a PHS student said. “My fake is fabulous; I use it very frequently.”

Students with fakes face a concern that they might be caught with the ID, by parents or by authorities. Depending on who checks the ID, the outcome can be very different.

“It is very easy to buy alcohol at supermarkets; the cashiers either never know [the ID is fake] or do know but do not care,” a PHS student said. “However, at clubs and bars it is a lot more likely your fake will be taken.”

Derek Hena of San Francisco nightclub 1015 Folsom said he carefully analyzes a person’s face and their ID to determine if the person looks 21 and if the ID actually belongs to them. He also checks facial bone structure and quizzes the person on the information on the ID. He sees about 1-5 suspected fakes per month.

Hena said every time he takes an ID the owner tries to argue with him but “it is a discussion that does not last long and the other person almost never wins.”

When he discovers a fake Hena said he usually sends the person on their way without taking the ID. If he does take the ID he either Facebook messages the person on the ID or puts the ID in the lost and found.

“I try not to think about what would happen if I got caught because I am optimistic and I like to YOLO,” the PHS student said.

Another student had to face the reality of losing his fake when his parents found it in his room. However, he said that cashiers never questioned his ID and that he doubts that they care whether it is fake or not because “it is too much of a hassle to decline”.

While his parents were concerned, the student says that “their only argument was that [he] could go to jail, but [he is] under the age of 18 so the police ca not do anything”.

The technological advancements around fake IDs are difficult for authorities to keep up with.

“There are so many tricks,” Golde said.

These “tricks” include blacklight tests, scan tests, and holograms. Blacklight tests involve shining a blacklight on the ID to reveal a California flag. To scan IDs, an officer will use a barcode reader to the read the magnetic strip at the top of the ID and calculate the age. Holograms are visible to the naked eye, but may be missing from some fakes.

In order to get an ID to pass all these tests-and more-minors pay up to roughly $160, as some PHS students have done. The student whose fake was taken by his parents paid $150 and said it looked real.

A PHS graduate said his fake was taken when he tried to use it at a liquor store in Albany. The cashier held it under a green light and told the graduate it was a fake. The graduate said he could scan it, but the cashier demanded he leave or the police would be called.

“Having a fake is risky, definitely,” one PHS student said, “but if you are smart about it you will enjoy it for years and never have to face any dangerous repercussions.”

The 16-year-old has reached the front of the line. “May I see your ID, please?” the cashier asks dubiously. After checking the age and searching for holograms she finds no errors and, like many other employees, completes the purchase for the underage girl.