Stolen Passports - Protecting Yourself From Identity Theft
Passports have been mediums for identity theft since they were first
invented. With a passport, a potential identity thief can enter and exit
the United States, and, using it as a veritable form of identity, can
access all sorts of stuff that can be potentially dangerous. There have
been many news stories lately about passport fraud, and with
increasingly technologies on both sides of the passport fraud
"industry," they are becoming more and more important for the American
people to see. From a stolen United States passport to identity theft of a dead man, these stories show just how dangerous a misplaced passport can be.
Mr. John Skelton who was forty one years old and a British citizen,
tried to enter the United States using a passport that was in the name
of Kurt Branham. It just so happened that Mr. Branham died in 1994 and
prior to his death he served as a legislative aide to a United States
senator. It is scary to realize that this stolen identity passport had
been successfully used twice before the thief was caught.
Mr. Eugene Todie was a 29-year-old New York resident who was on
probation for criminal contempt. His use of a fraudulent passport
permitted him to leave and re-enter the United States undetected. When
he was caught, he was even wearing an ankle monitor and when asked about
it, he said he was a fan of Lindsey Lohan and was simply wearing it in
her honor. That was quite a story, but people who break the law in this
way are dangerous and must be apprehended.
Passport issues are nothing new for Lindsay Lohan herself. She was
schedule to appear in court for alcohol charges. She was performing in
the United Kingdom and when it came time to leave, she claimed she lost
her passport and therefore could not keep her court date. Upon trying to
get into the United States, she was turned away because she did not
present her passport. It's good to know that the passport laws apply to
everyone. She certainly had a USA passport renewal emergency!
It is important that we all realize what an important document a
passport is. We must always keep them in safe places and if we should
loose one or suspect ours might have been stolen, we need to report it
immediately.
As you can see by these varying news reports, passports are potentially harmful tools. If you are traveling abroad and your passport gets misplaced or stolen, there are things you can do to prevent it from being misused. There are solutions to a pass port renewal emergency, and dealing with it correctly is important to keep your stolen pass port out of criminals' hands. The best thing to do, however, is just be diligent. If you are protective of your passport and your identity, you are far less likely to be left dealing with an emergency.
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