Passport check

Passports are widely used to prove identity. Unfortunately, says Robert Kearney of the UK Identity & Passport Service, there are thousands of lost, stolen or fake passports in circulation, which frequently feature in attempts to defraud financial institutions. The good news is that the Identity & Passport Service launched by the Passport Validation Service in 2006 is assisting both public and private sector to tackle this sort of fraud and identity theft.

Banks, building societies, share dealing firms, asset finance companies and many other financial services firms are now using the Passport Validation Service (PVS). Since the service went live it has prevented hundreds of attempts to perpetrate crime using stolen, lost or fraudulent passports.