U.S. Attorney Andrew E. Lelling said the RMV needs to pick up the phone and call the feds to help catch fraud.

“It’s true the RMV often gets duped,” said the top federal prosecutor in Boston a day after announcing the arrest of 25 mostly illegal immigrants swept up in a fraud bust. The suspects allegedly tricked the Registry of Motor Vehicles into giving them driver’s licenses.

“They could call us or the FBI,” Lelling told the Herald when asked what the registry could do to intercept the fraud at the counter. “In the post-9/11 world we care a lot about people with fraudulent identification cards.”

“Operation Double Trouble” accounted for $200,000 in heisted Medicare, unemployment and public housing benefits. Court documents show one of the first stops made by the 25 accused identity thieves was the RMV to obtain a driver’s license once they had another person’s name, date of birth and Social Security number at their disposal.

They posed as residents of Puerto Rico, but most were from the Dominican Republic, the feds said.

U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions came to Boston Thursday to back the bust he called “theft from America.”

Lelling said Sessions wants the Boston office to share how they executed the bust with other states around the nation to ferret out fraud.

“The attorney general looks for a district that comes up with an innovative idea we all should do,” Lelling said, adding he’s now been asked to help train others.

Lelling told the Herald the operation started by obtaining Puerto Rico’s Medicaid data and cross-referencing it with Massachusetts records. Once duplicates were spotted, the feds looked at driver’s licenses and when two different photos popped up, they dispatched agents.

“It was not an intentional pilot program,” he added, “but it proved very easy to export.”

Gov. Charlie Baker defended the RMV on Thursday, saying the state has “significantly beefed up” the fraud unit and worked with Homeland Security on the case. He called catching the cheats “a high priority.” He also said the REAL ID program, which requires proof of citizenship, has been a big help.

Registrar Erin Deveney said in a statement last night that the agency is looking out for cheats.

“The Registry appreciates the collaboration of federal and state law enforcement agencies in investigating and arresting individuals suspected of fraud, and the records of the individuals mentioned … have all been suspended or revoked,” Deveney said.

“Since 2014,” she added, “the RMV has increased technology tools and enhanced training of personnel to detect and prevent fraud, including the recent implementation of REAL ID and regular credential requirements for customers seeking a learner’s permit, driver’s license or ID who must provide more documents than ever before proving their U.S. citizenship or lawful presence in the United States.”