Has your passport been stolen or exposed in a breach? Here’s what cybercrooks can do with it.

Passports and other personally identifiable information (PII) are prime targets for cybercriminals who can use them to commit a wide variety of identity theft crimes. According to a recent Bitdefender analysis on dark web marketplace listings of stolen identification documents, passports were among the most expensive items peddled by cybercrooks.

For example, a registered EU biometric passport can go for as much as 4,500 euros, a Maltese passport for 3,500 euros, a UK passport for 2,500 euros and a US passport for 1,680 euros.

The most recent FTC consumer sentinel network report also noted over 1,000 cases of passport fraud reported in 2022, including some filed by US military personnel.

How can cybercriminals and fraudsters get their hands on your passport or its information:

- Data breaches – Companies and organizations that hold sensitive customer information, such as airlines, travel companies and hotels, are prime targets for threat actors

- Physical theft – Thieves can target you while you travel to steal your ID documents and money

- Social engineering schemes – Fraudsters can target you via email, text or phone to steal your passport info and other sensitive data. They can pose as a passport renewal platform, a travel agent or a government official

- Poor account security and passport management – Hackers may use leaked credentials to wage credential-stuffing attacks. If successful, threat actors can harvest sensitive data, including your passport details, to commit other crimes.

Here’s what malicious individuals can do with your full passport details or passport information:

- Access your bank account – Scammers can try to access your bank account using the from your passport to impersonate you at your bank and take over your account or add unauthorized users to it

- Open fraudulent bank accounts in your name – Using a stolen passport as a form of identification, scammers can open new accounts in your name

- Mine for more personal data linked to your information on dark web marketplaces that may include your Social Security Number, credit card numbers and credentials to various online accounts. With a dossier of personally identifiable information completed, cybercriminals can use it to commit fraud

- Commit believable passport forgeries to sell in underground communities

- Use your passport information to target you with social engineering schemes to steal more personal information and commit other identity theft crimes

- Forge a synthetic identity using a combination of real personal information from your passport and fake data

- Scammers can apply for healthcare, unemployment and government benefits in your name or use a stolen passport number and other information when applying for jobs

If your physical passport was stolen or lost, you need to act quickly to minimize your risks, and immediately report it to local authorities. If your passport number was exposed in a data breach, closely monitor your accounts and watch out for phishing schemes.

If you need help monitoring data breaches that may put you at risk of identity theft, fraud or other security issues, take a look at Bitdefender Digital Identity Protection. Our service gives you a 360-degree view of your online identity while scanning the deep and dark web to check if your information is leaked or exposed. You receive notifications about the event and details about your data, as well as easy-to- use one-click action items to minimize risks.