A common form of character identity theft is the illegal take over of someone’s passport. Although, passports are typically stolen, they could also be sold or given as a gift to a family member or a friend to help them out. In all cases, the purpose remains the same which is to allow for fake identification and travel to places where such passports are allowed to take their rightful owners. But especially, if they are stolen, passports could be used for acts of terrorism in the world. We take our passports for granted but it is a privilege to have the passport of a country especially if that country and its passport are well respected in the world. We must maintain the respect and trust of the country which granted us the privilege to own its passport and remember, that privilege can be taken away from us if we betray the trust.
Minor and professional alterations to the picture, name and other personal description in the passports make them appear as if they belong to the identity thieves. Some passports are more valuable than others and provide more access to places in the world and therefore are in high demand. If you ever lose your passport or have it stolen, make sure you take the appropriate actions to protect yourself. And, never ever sell or share it with others, because once you lose control of a piece of your identity, you might as well say good bye to your whole identity.
Henry Bagdasarian is a certified expert in information security, privacy, risk and audit with many years of experience with major international companies. Nominated for the Security Executive of The Year Award (2006). Created the KAOS identity management system to help prevent identity theft which is available free of charge on his http://www.identity-theft-awareness.com web site. Learn more about Henry on his web site.
