<http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2004/11/27/nation/9513530&sec=nation> The Star Online > News Saturday November 27, 2004 MyKad too hi-tech to forge BY JANE RITIKOS KUALA LUMPUR: The National Registration Department has detected about 10 cases of forged MyKad issued to illegal immigrants in the country since it was introduced in 2001. However, the chips in the cards were not forged ones. Its director-general Datuk Wan Ibrahim Wan Ahmad said those caught with the fake cards were Indonesians and Bangladeshis, who claimed they had paid about RM200 for the card. The fake cards looked like genuine ones except that the forgers could not duplicate the smart chip imbedded in MyKad. "The physical appearance of the card looks real but the chip, a vital component of the card, is functionless and cannot be used for transactions. "This is because the features of the MyKad chip are so high-tech that they cannot be duplicated. Even if they could make a forged chip it has no data that is linked to our database," he said. Wan Ibrahim also said the chip in the fake MyKad was not readable. "We don't believe the chip can ever be forged. The information in our chip has data and biometric features," he said. The MyKad chip stores information of the cardholders including their identity cards, driving licences, passports and health data. Wan Ibrahim said there were also those caught with fake MyKad which had their laminated sheet tampered with to alter the physical details and picture. "When these cards are read, the identity of the bearer is that of someone else. These included those who were checked at the Immigration checkpoints at the airport. At a glance the cards looked real," he added. -- ----------------- R. A. Hettinga <mailto: rah@ibuc.com> The Internet Bearer Underwriting Corporation <http://www.ibuc.com/> 44 Farquhar Street, Boston, MA 02131 USA "... however it may deserve respect for its usefulness and antiquity, [predicting the end of the world] has not been found agreeable to experience." -- Edward Gibbon, 'Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire'