DPS sent at least 3,000 driver’s licenses to organized crime group targeting Asian Texans (Texas Tribune)

DPS sent at least 3,000 driver’s licenses to organized crime group targeting Asian Texans – By Karen Brooks Harper (Texas Tribune) / Feb 27, 2023

A Chinese crime operation bypassed the password clues of Texas.gov by using stolen identity information to fraudulently obtain replacement driver’s licenses.

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The Texas Department of Public Safety was duped into shipping at least 3,000 Texas driver’s licenses to a Chinese organized crime group that targeted Asian Texans, DPS Director Steve McCraw told a Texas House committee on Monday.

The organization was then selling the licenses, obtained using the personal information of Texas drivers, to people in the country illegally, McCraw said.

The fraudsters worked through the state’s government portal, Texas.gov. The agency, which discovered the scheme in December, will begin notifying victims in letters to be sent out this week, the DPS chief said. More victims are still being identified, he said.

“We’re not happy at all, I can tell you that, one bit,” McCraw said in testimony to a House Appropriations subcommittee. “They should have had — controls should have been in place, and they never should have happened.”

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