A Casa Grande resident who allegedly used stolen identities to fraudulently obtain benefits and settlement payments was arrested after Arizona Department of Transportation detectives’ used facial recognition technology.
The case began when Sharon Forrest, 51, applied for a driver license in early February. A review found that her photo closely resembled two other photos in ADOT’s database, and detectives with FBI training in facial recognition determined that all three photos were of Forrest.
Their investigation found that Forrest had used stolen identities to get Social Security benefits, Department of Economic Security assistance, settlement payments and veteran benefits. She was arrested March 1, and booked at the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office Fourth Avenue Jail on eight counts of forgery and one count of identity theft.
Facial recognition allows detectives to compare a photo against others in the driver license database to ensure a person isn’t fraudulently obtaining an ID card.
If a photo is a likely match to another one, the system will flag it. Potentially fraudulent photos then undergo three levels of review by detectives who have received FBI facial recognition training.