The story does sound scary but fails to make the connection between these guys and actually obtaining a fake green card that allows you to enter the country. As we’ve seen in the past it seems getting authorization through legitimate channels is easy enough for the bad guys!
I’d be surprised if a fake green card obtained like this would be good enough to get into the country. Even if it was a stunning replica (and that would be challenging enough, looking at my real card) I would think all the bits of data on it would not match the government’s database.
Your experience is a lot more impressive than mine. When I last came into the country through Newark Airport in 2008 with my green card I can’t remember them even scanning it or entering any information into a computer. Maybe I missed it but it sure seemed that the immigration official just glanced at it and waved me through! Hopefully they have stopped doing that, otherwise these fake cards may be more effective than I would think.
I bet they scanned your passport though. Your A# most likely has been linked to your passport#, and all kinds of info about you probably popped up on his screen as soon as he swiped your passport. I remember seeing the officer typing my A# on his keypad the first time I entered with the ADIT stamp in my passport. After that, they seem to be happy with just scanning my passport.
I think they started collecting fingerprints from permanent residents at the border in 2009. I have yet to encounter a retinal scan though.