Instead, according to Jin, most Chinese American victims learned about the stolen licenses through news reports. Hailong Jin, a DFW Chinese Alliance board member, said the department should immediately have alerted victims that their identities had been stolen. And when we lose that trust by not thinking through, it’s difficult to rebuild that trust with the people,” González stated. “The number one thing we have as a government agency, as government folks, is trust. Mary González (D) criticized the DPS for failing to alert the victims. The thieves paid as little as $11 for the duplicate licenses and had them delivered to “third-party addresses.” The criminal organization ordered the licenses by entering personal information, including a previous address or a mother’s maiden name. The portal for obtaining licenses is operated by a separate agency, the Texas Department of Information Resources. Then, the group used the information to order duplicate driver’s licenses through the Texas DPS website.

McCraw attributed the incident to a security lapse, which he noted is still under investigation.Ī Chinese organized crime group obtained the stolen driver’s licenses by first acquiring the personal information of Asian-Americans on the dark web.

On Monday, DPS Chief Steve McCraw told the Dallas Morning News that 3,000 Texans of Asian descent were targeted in the thefts. A Chinese criminal organization based in New York stole driver’s licenses from 'look-alikes' of illegal immigrants, according to the Texas Department of Public Safety.

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