Some unlucky Ukrainians are at risk of being dragged into various fraud schemes, and left penniless or even in debt because scans of their passports are out there for sale on the dark web, the secret internet, UK market researchers have found.
Cybercriminals have stolen and now are reselling scans of real Ukrainian passports on the dark web in bulk for only $11 apiece, according to an investigation carried out by UK research firm Comparitech, which searched through several illicit marketplaces like Dream Market, Berlusconi Market, and Wall Street Market.
Passport scans, either forged or real, are often accompanied by other forms of identification. These are typically utility bills, selfies of the ID card owner holding up their ID, and driver’s licenses. These add-ons significantly up the price, reaching $60 for “a kit.” That’s because such add-ons are usually required to pass proof-of-address and proof-of-identification checks on websites.
Besides, these checks are often part of the account recovery process, when a user has somehow lost access to their account and must prove who they are to regain access.
Some banks and other financial institutions also require two pieces of identification to open a new account.
“With a stolen passport and driver’s license, for example, fraudsters can open accounts and collect the signup rewards in the victim’s name, or use the account as a mule to cash out on other illegal transactions. This is called a ‘bank drop’ scam, and it can implicate the victim in other crimes,” Comparitech’s journalist Paul Bischoff writes in his piece.
He surmises that real scans are “more effective than Photoshopped counterfeits for bank drop scams.”
Apart from scans of Ukrainian passports, Comparitech found those of many other countries. In total, they found 48 unique listings for real passport scans, 38 of which were not sold with any accompanying proof of ID or address. Those 48 spanned 20 countries, including Ukraine.
The average price of a digital passport scan is $15.
Australia and UK passport scans were the most frequently listed, and Australian scans were the most expensive on average, costing $32.
“We found no consistent pattern to the prices according to country; they did not seem to be based on scarcity or the power of the country’s passport,” Bischoff writes.
Apart from scans, cybercriminals sell Photoshop templates of passports; counterfeit, physical passports (average $1,500); and real physical passports (average $13,500). However, there are no such options with Ukrainian passports.
Passports are required at immigration checkpoints, hotel check-ins, and when applying to jobs and schools abroad. So the scans are often scanned and stored on computers that may not be sufficiently secure. This is where cybercriminals tap in and steal ID scans; or alternatively, someone with access to those scans might be fencing them on the dark web, experts say.
The Kyiv Post’s technology coverage is sponsored by Ciklum and NIX Solutions. The content is independent of the donors.
