This is the most common means of identity fraud in many countries. Believe me, the rubber gloves are out in force.

It used to be cheaper for citizens of a certain African country to change their name by poll deed and get a new passport than it was to pay airline change fees. So some enterprising travel agents would buy cheap seats on a high volume route in generic names and then have their customers change their names for less than the change fees cost. It was quite a racket from around 2005-2008.