Originally Posted by ptr120

Having been a victim of identity fraud, I am increasingly worried about people who want a copy of my passport. Here is my story:

Passport out of my possesion whilst arranging a visa for India (before they started working with that agency they now use). Delivered my passport personally and collected it personally too. I can't be 100% sure this is when the copy was taken, but I'm 99.8% certain.

Some time later (years!) I discover that a fraudster has not only used my passport to register me as a company director of a company I've never heard of, but they also use it as proof of identity to get significant credit from PC World (order made online, paperwork sent by post). The fraudster had changed the expiry date on the (now expired) passport. Luckily I still had the passport in question, even though expired, so I was able to proove the identity theft.

As a result I'm always cautious when people want a copy of my ID or it is out of my sight.