According to Eliza S. Partington, an assistant manager at Charlie's Kitchen in Cambridge, bartenders are often confronted by decoys who ask for beers, and those who fail to ask for ID are given red cards that can cost their owners up to $2,000.

At Charlie's Kitchen, they pay the price with their jobs.

"If you serve someone underage, you will be fired," Partington said. "One year ago someone got fired for that. But it doesn't happen too often."

The Death of Fake IDs?

Before the crackdown, said Wechsler, "with a high density of alcohol outlets, there's more competition for customers, so you cut corners to stay alive."

But as a result of the tighter enforcement, bouncers, barkeeps and store clerks have become more adept than ever at spotting even the most undetectable fake ID's--the wink-wink attitude depicted by the Globe three years ago seems like a pipe dream for students whose fakes are getting snatched up.

But now, the equation has shifted dramatically. Store owners and police alike say it is just not worth it.

"Why should someone jeopardize his business just for a 30-pack of Bud?" asks John Kervin.