Holiday scamsIdentity and passport fraud

A stolen passport can lead to many serious types of identity fraud

According to the Identity and Passport Service (IPS), over 300,000 Britons lost their passport or had it stolen in 2006.

Protect your identity

By obtaining someone’s personal details, fraudsters can apply for credit cards, loans or mobile phones in someone else’s name. They can even obtain another passport or apply for a driving licence. 

If holidaymakers fail to keep their passport safe while on holiday, they could be putting themselves at risk of identity theft – estimated to cost Britain in excess of £1.7 billion per year.

Research carried out by the IPS found that people took greater care of their mobile phones and iPods than their passports, despite these potentially being worth thousands of pounds to criminals.

The best place to keep a passport is in a hotel safe

The recent research carried out by Which? Holiday found that although most people tend to keep important documents with them at all times (32%), or store them in a safe at their hotel (31%), one in 10 (9%) admitted to leaving them in their room or apartment.

Personal details could be as valuable to a fraudster as cash or credit cards so take the following steps to safeguard your passport and your identity. 

Tips

• Take 2 photocopies of your passport before going on holiday. Leave one at home with a relative or friend, and take the otherwith you, keeping the copy separate from the original. Alternatively, scan your passport and email a copy to yourself at an email account you can access anywhere in the world.
• Don’t be tempted to leave important documents lying in your hotel room. Either carry these with you in a concealed money belt or, better still, store them in your hotel safe.
• Be wary if you are ever asked to surrender your passport and ensure that the request is legitimate. Someone may come up to you in your hotel and say that they work at reception, but is that really the case? Go to reception and find out.
• Report a lost or stolen passport immediately to the local police or get in touch with your nearest British Consulate.