It doesn't strike me as particularly wise to buy a fake id from someone using a credit card. In the original article, does anyone know how the journalist bought the fake utility bills?

You are absolutely right about not using a credit card to buy these. I was the person that bought them for the article in question and spent some time wrangling over how best to pay for the docs. In the end I used an internet payment method (I won't name it but I am sure you can guess which one) as I felt this provided me sufficient protection subsequent to what was, without question, a legitimate transaction in buying these docs from this supplier i.e. none of my payment details were being exposed that could subsequently be abused.