Is it possible to send a scan of your passport?
There are many stories where fraudsters, having taken possession of documents, not only take out loans, but also re-register documents for an apartment. Therefore, the answer to the question “ Is it dangerous to send a scanned photocopy of your passport?” "Obvious - definitely dangerous. But even if you did not send your passport anywhere via the Internet, this still does not provide complete protection against fraudulent activities.
Most of us have at some point dealt with banks, getting a job, issuing insurance policies, and so on, and almost always make a photocopy of our passport. Although the contracts indicate that “we undertake not to disclose your personal data anywhere,” it is not difficult to guess that an ordinary employee of the same bank can make several photocopies and then use them for their own selfish purposes.
I will say more, knowing only the data from your passport (without photocopies), “craftsmen” can make a duplicate. The Internet is simply teeming with similar programs (passport scan generators), where only by substituting the data, what comes out, in fact, is a color copy of the passport, which can later be used when registering on different sites. But despite this, I do not recommend tempting fate once again by sending scans of your passport to everyone.
On someone else's paper
Today, crimes in the field of information technology are widely known, but scammers do not stop using old, proven methods of deception. For example, cases of counterfeiting the passport of a real existing person are still not uncommon. A color printer, glue, a laminating machine - and now the scammers are ready to formalize an illegal real estate transaction worth millions of rubles.
As the FNP press service said, in October a girl and a realtor approached a Moscow notary - she planned to leave her apartment as collateral against a bank loan. But the notary was confused by the visitor’s behavior. He also doubted the authenticity of the passport, although formally the document was considered valid. The notary asked to provide a second identification document. The girl promised to bring her license from the car.
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Photo: IZVESTIA/Dmitry Korotaev
- She left, left her passport, and ran away. The notary contacted the police, where the fake was recognized. But if this couple came to the MFC, then, according to all formal criteria, the documents would most likely be accepted. And after a while, a respectable citizen would find out that his apartment was pledged, and would run through the corridors of the courts, proving that his passport was forged and that he did not take out a loan, the FNP commented.
Author of the quote
In 2019–2020, notaries prevented the commission of illegal actions in relation to property with a total value of more than 639 million rubles, including escheat property with a total value of more than 98 million rubles.
How to secure and protect your passport scan, tips
The best way to protect yourself is to refuse to use a scan of your passport. But, if you still decide to send photos or scans of your documents via the Internet, I recommend that you familiarize yourself with a few tips that I use:
Consider other identification options. To confirm your identity, you do not always need to send a scan of your passport. In some cases, for example, it is enough to provide a copy of your driver's license or an account statement from the bank of which you are a client. The point is that when opening an account, the bank has already checked and made copies of your documents.
Do not send scans to “everyone”. I only ship to large companies. For example, if an online store or the like asks me to provide a scan of my passport, I refuse. A very popular fraudulent scheme is when, under the guise of a bank “employee” who is ready to provide you with a loan on more favorable terms, the swindler asks you to send color copies of your passport and other documents.
Of course, a “favorable” loan is just a reason to receive your documents. Similar schemes can often be found, for example, on forums, social networks, etc. Messages may look like this: “We issue loans up to 2,000,000 rubles from 10 to 15% per annum.”
Do not send scans of all completed pages. Companies often indicate that it is necessary to send copies of all completed passport pages. I don’t pay attention to this and first send a page that indicates: passport series and number, full name, date and place of birth, photo. If this is not enough, I can send you a page indicating when and by whom the passport was issued. For most verifications, one or two pages is usually sufficient.
Do not submit high resolution scans. Many people believe that if they ask you to send a scanned copy of your passport, it must be of high resolution so that almost the structure of the paper is visible. But often just a photo of the document is enough. In this case, I edit the resulting image so that the width or height does not exceed 1000-1200 pixels, and the file size does not exceed 300 KB.
Place watermarks. Be sure to place a watermark on top of your copies. Open a photo/scan of your passport in a graphic editor (for example, Photoshop) and place the text directly on top: “EXCLUSIVELY FOR IDENTIFICATION IN ALPARI”, “COPY ONLY FOR VERIFICATION IN ALPARI” or other similar text.
At the same time, I always indicate the name of the company to which I am sending a copy, so that in the event of a data “leak” it is easier to identify the source. As you understand, the word “ALPARI” in the example above is the name of the company with which I registered and invest in PAMM accounts.
There is also hope that a scan with the name of one company will not be accepted by another, this is in case the criminal suddenly managed to get hold of a copy.
I make the text translucent (transparency is about 50%), and I make sure to add different styles (shadow, outline, texture, text distortion, etc.). The watermark must also be placed on top of your photo.
Hide the signature, seal number and department code. Your signature is one of the main elements that I recommend hiding. When photographing or scanning, cover your signature, as well as the stamp number and department code, with a thick piece of paper. You can also use a graphic editor to remove the desired elements.
Some companies may refuse to accept scans with a closed signature, so before you send a copy with an “open signature”, think again, is there any point? In this case, I would at least place an additional “watermark” over the signature so that in the future it would not be so easy for attackers to cut out and copy the signature.
Hidden stamp number and department code will also add certain difficulties to the fraudster, because Using different online passport generators, the swindler will have to guess this number.
Subtract and divide
When registering an inheritance, notaries also have to resist fraudsters. Most often, criminals try to take possession of real estate, bypassing the real relatives of the deceased. As the FNP reported, in Lipetsk a man discovered that criminals had sold the apartment he had inherited from his mother, and the deal was allegedly concluded by the mother herself, who died back in 2010. Surprisingly, her documents did not arouse any suspicion among the MFC employee.
“In the Kemerovo region, housing was taken away from a former pupil of an orphanage who had once lost his passport, and in St. Petersburg, right on the eve of Victory Day, the property of an 89-year-old siege survivor was sold using a fake passport,” the FNP told Izvestia. In St. Petersburg alone, up to 400 such crimes are recorded annually.
Don't lose face
Photo: TASS/Valery Sharifulin
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However, real relatives sometimes show themselves from the unsightly side in inheritance cases. Some try to hide information about other heirs from the notary. However, such information is always verified, including through electronic requests. Thus, in one case, the sister of the deceased indicated that there were no other heirs. But when studying the documents, it turned out that his son lived with the testator, who actually accepted the inheritance, is the heir of the first priority, but has not yet contacted the notary.
Notaries often have to sort out complicated relationships between living spouses. Thus, a certain citizen turned to a notary to certify the purchase and sale agreement for an apartment, while declaring that he was not married. However, when checking, the notary found out that the seller was married, and the apartment was purchased by the spouses in a paid transaction. This circumstance made it necessary to obtain from the seller the consent of his wife to sell the apartment. The seller explained his actions by saying that he believed it was unnecessary to ask his wife, since the apartment was registered in his name alone.
How to scan a passport?
The concept of “passport scan” (scanned copy, scanned copy) is currently of a conditional nature, because With the development of technology, the scanner is often replaced by a conventional digital camera or a modern phone camera.
Often, for identification on different sites, it is enough just to take a photo of the required document . Before sending scanned copies, I recommend using the tips above.
Use these tips and most importantly, be vigilant, because... We are talking about your personal data. If you have your own ways of protecting copies of documents or just want to share your opinion, I will be glad to see your comments (without registration).
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One of the big problems of the Russian banking system is the aggressive issuance of loans without proper verification of documents. The practice of couriers traveling from banks to potential borrowers to process loans is still legal, despite frequent cases of illegal use of other people's data. The FNP also pointed out this problem. For example, a woman contacted the Moscow City Notary Chamber because a bank loan had been taken out for her without her knowledge. It turned out that a fraudster applied to a credit institution with a passport in the same name, the details of which completely coincide with the original.
— This bank does not have offices and communicates with clients only remotely. Applications for opening an account are accepted via the Internet; the credit card is delivered by a courier, who also takes photographs of the client with an unfolded passport in his hands. With such an identification procedure, it is difficult to notice, for example, a re-taped photograph even in a low-quality fake,” the FNP said. In such cases, the real owner then has to prove that he has no debt to the bank, since he did not apply for a loan.
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Photo: IZVESTIA/Alexander Kazakov
If a person becomes aware that someone has forged his passport and is trying to perform legally significant actions on his behalf, it is important not only to notify the police about this, but also to contact a notary.
“This is necessary, first of all, to immediately cancel all notarized powers of attorney that could have been issued using a fake passport,” the FNP press service reported. — The notary immediately enters information into the register of canceled powers of attorney, and from that moment all legally significant actions performed under such a power of attorney will be void.
In such a situation, it would not be superfluous to contact the notary chamber of your region with a request to inform all notaries of the constituent entity of the Russian Federation about the presence of a fake passport and the police check that has been launched in this regard.
