Pictures of Fake US Passports Revealed

The US passport is widely considered one of the world’s most secure ID documents and one of the toughest for criminals to forge, but according to a new congressional report it’s not impossible. Over four tests conducted by the Government Accountability Office they discovered that investigators with minimal counterfeiting capabilities could obtain genuine passports – these tests were requested by Sens. John Kyl and Dianne Feinstein who both serve on the Senate Judiciary Committee.

GAO conducted its investigation using an undercover agent who submitted passport applications and supporting materials at locations that accept them in order to gain genuine passports. Three out of the four tests demonstrated that individuals skilled at counterfeiting could obtain genuine passports in their own names; in another test involving stolen personal data from another individual was used to acquire one under that individual’s name and also an ID issued by Washington, D.C.

Customs and Border Protection officials acknowledge the growing problem of fraudulent documents at Mexican ports of entry, even as they conduct sting operations to detect counterfeit passports on the streets. Being accurate 100% of the time would be an unrealistic burden, says a spokesman from Homeland Security; instead they target individuals selling counterfeit passports on the streets as well as companies making them and how they gain information to produce counterfeits.