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Investigators on man accused of making fake IDs: ‘He was the best I've seen'

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Investigators arrested a man for making fake North Carolina IDs, complete with the holograms and real barcodes.

They said Daniel Benson’s fake licenses were the best they've seen.

"I have not seen any better than that. His IDs were good," North Carolina DMV agent Will Carswell said.  "He was the best I've seen. Absolutely."

They believe Benson sold IDs to underage college students, but that the fake licenses were good enough for a terrorist to get through airport security.

"Gets in the wrong hands, man, it gets [to] ISIS, another terrorist group, there's no telling what they can do with something looks as good as this," Carswell said.

Investigators said the case started at the University of South Carolina.

A student there with a fake ID told them she bought it through a website, called Meta Fake IDs.

The website boasts "Awesome North Carolina IDs for a great price" and has multiple references to underage drinking.

"He was that brazen about it. I don't think he thought he was going to get caught," Carswell said.

Carswell posed as a teenage customer and bought 12 IDs at $100 for two. The licenses were sold in two-packs in case a bouncer at a bar confiscated one of them.

Agents recently raided a house in Wilmington and arrested Benson.

Since the driver's license numbers were linked to real people, investigators aren't just going after him for making fake IDs, but also for ID theft.

Technically, they can charge him with "trafficking in stolen identities," which is a more serious felony.

They showed Action 9's Jason Stoogenke high-tech gear they they seized, including a top-of-the-line water-cooled laser cutter.

They also said they found 28 fake IDs, all bound for students at UNC-Chapel Hill.

State prosecutors in New Hanover County are pursuing the case, but DMV agents said postal inspectors are interested in it as well, so it may become a federal case.

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