Fake passport
{{Short description|Counterfeit passport or other travel document}}
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Image:CBP checking authenticity of a travel document.jpg OFO agent checking the authenticity of a travel document at an international airport using a stereo microscope]]A fake passport is a counterfeit of a passport (or other travel document) issued by a nation or authorised agency. Such counterfeits are copies of genuine passports, or illicitly modified genuine passports made by unauthorized persons, sometimes called cobblers.{{cite web|url=http://www.spymuseum.org/education-programs/spy-resources/language-of-espionage/#C|title=Language of espionage
|website=SpyMuseum.org}} Its purpose is to be used deceptively as if it were a legitimate travel or identity document. A passport obtained from an authorized issuer by providing false information may also be considered fake.
These falsified passports can be used to leave a country from which exit is barred, illegal immigration to a country into which entry is barred, identity theft, age fabrication, organized crime, and to bypass know your customer protocols.{{Cite web |title=Create a fake passport in five minutes with ChatGPT and ensure that it would pass as valid at any checkpoint |url=https://umbrella.lib.umb.edu/discovery/fulldisplay?&context=PC&vid=01MA_UMB:01MA_UMB&search_scope=MyInst_and_CI&tab=Everything&docid=cdi_proquest_wirefeeds_3186705105 |access-date=2025-04-24 |website=umbrella.lib.umb.edu |language=en}}
Other comparable documents include camouflage passports, which are not copies of a valid form of document, but are designed to look like a passport issued by a body that cannot issue legitimate passports, such as "Republic of Mainau", or a "Baltic Trade Mission" diplomatic document. Fantasy passports, such as the World Passport, are passport-like documents issued by non-official organizations or micronations as a novelty or souvenir, to make a political statement, or to show loyalty to a political or other cause.
Incidents
Adolf Eichmann (high-ranking Nazi often referred to as "the architect of the Holocaust") after the end of World War II traveled to Argentina using a fraudulently obtained laissez-passer issued by the International Red Cross and lived there under a false identity.
Alexander Solonik (Russian hitman in the early 1990s) lived in Greece with a fake passport, which he had obtained from the Greek consulate in Moscow.{{Citation needed|date=December 2009}}
In October 2000, Alexander Litvinenko (Russian dissident and writer) fled to Turkey from Ukraine on a forged passport using the alias Chris Reid, as his actual passport was impounded by Russian authorities after criminal charges were filed against him.{{citation needed|date=December 2010}}
In May 2001, Kim Jong-nam, the son of North Korean leader Kim Jong-il, was arrested at Narita International Airport, in Tokyo, Japan, travelling on a fake Dominican Republic passport. He was detained by immigration officials and later deported to the People's Republic of China. The incident caused Kim Jong-il to cancel a planned visit to China due to the embarrassment caused by the incident.[http://www.asianoffbeat.com/default.asp?Display=1118 Kim Jong-Il's Son Makes Pit-stop in Paris to Get Teeth Fixed] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080116154423/http://www.asianoffbeat.com/default.asp?Display=1118 |date=2008-01-16 }} from www.asianoffbeat.com 15 November 2007{{cite news |title=Fake Id |url=https://drunkid.com}}
In June 2005, American actor Wesley Snipes was detained in South Africa at Johannesburg International Airport for allegedly trying to pass through the airport with a fake South African passport. Snipes was allowed to return home because he had a valid U.S. passport.[http://www.iol.co.za/news/south-africa/mystery-surrounds-snipes-s-sa-passport-1.244011 IOL.co.za]
In early 2020, the Brazilian soccer player Ronaldinho and his brother were detained in Paraguay while allegedly trying to enter the country with fake Paraguayan passports.{{Cite news |date=2020-03-07 |title=Ronaldinho in court in Paraguay over fake passport claims |language=en-GB |work=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-51778788 |access-date=2023-11-02}}
References
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