“I mean, there are people that are going in there and taking three and four appointments and then trading them or selling them or giving them to other people,” said Stovall.

In a statement to NBC 5, The U.S. Department of State wrote,

"We are aware of these issues and are working to prevent them. The Department of State does not charge a fee solely for booking an emergency appointment at one of our agencies or centers. Any request of payment for scheduling a U.S. passport appointment should be considered fraudulent. Further, the department is not affiliated with any third-party appointment booking services, and we have seen numerous instances of falsified appointment bookings through these vendors. We may not be able to honor appointments booked via third parties."

https://www.nbcdfw.com/news/nbc-5-re...-dept/2683574/