Re: Post 9/11: Fake Passports Still Easy to Obtain

["Larry Seltzer" <larry () larryseltzer com>]

That does make the whole story sound phony. In 1981 I got one expedited
to a week or two, but I had to go to the Federal Building in
Philadelphia personally and pay a lot of money. I doubt you can get one
that quickly off shoddy ID like this.

Larry Seltzer
eWEEK.com Security Center Editor
http://security.eweek.com/
http://blogs.pcmag.com/securitywatch/
Contributing Editor, PC Magazine
larry.seltzer () ziffdavisenterprise com


-----Original Message-----
From: funsec-bounces () linuxbox org [mailto:funsec-bounces () linuxbox org]
On Behalf Of Dean Pierce
Sent: Saturday, March 14, 2009 7:56 AM
To: Paul Ferguson; funsec () linuxbox org
Subject: Re: [funsec] Post 9/11: Fake Passports Still Easy to Obtain

How in the hell does anyone get a passport so quickly?  When I got mine 
I paid out the ass for expedited delivery and it was still two months 
before it came in the mail.  This was in 2006.

    - DEAN

Paul Ferguson wrote:
> Obviously child's play.
>
> Via The Boston Globe (AP).
>
> [snip]
>
> Using phony documents and the identities of a dead man and a
5-year-old
> boy, a government investigator obtained U.S. passports in a test of
> post-9/11 security. Despite efforts to boost passport security since
the
> 2001 terror attacks, the investigator fooled passport and postal
service
> employees four out of four times, according to a new report made
public
> Friday.
>
> The report by the Government Accountability Office, Congress'
investigative
> arm, details the ruses:
>
> * One investigator used the Social Security number of a man who died
in
> 1965, a fake New York birth certificate and a fake Florida driver's
> license. He received a passport four days later.
> * A second attempt had the investigator using a 5-year-old boy's
> information but identifying himself as 53 years old on the passport
> application. He received that passport seven days later.
> * In another test, an investigator used fake documents to get a
genuine
> Washington, D.C., identification card, which he then used to apply for
a
> passport. He received it the same day.
> * A fourth investigator used a fake New York birth certificate and a
fake
> West Virginia driver's license and got the passport eight days later.
>
>
> Criminals and terrorists place a high value on illegally obtained
travel
> documents, U.S. intelligence officials have said. Currently, poorly
faked
> passports are sold on the black market for $300, while top-notch fakes
go
> for around $5,000, according to Immigration and Customs Enforcement
> investigations.
>
> [snip]
>
> More:
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2009/03/14/investi
gat
> or_uses_phony_documents_to_get_passports/
>
> - ferg
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