Counterfeit Passports

Summary

Counterfeit passports generally come in two types: A completely fake passport made up entirely by the producer, and a real, legitimate passport altered for the specific buyer.

Counterfeit  Market Value:
Unknown

There are generally two types of Counterfeit Passports.  

1. Passports that are created to resemble a legitimate passport.   Quality is low and is used mainly as identification, such as to rent apartments or open bank accounts. In Thailand, these passports generally cost between 25 to 50 US Dollars.¹

2. Legitimate passports that were either stolen or lost, and then altered for the buyer. Passports that have been assigned to a person can be altered for the buyer, such as changing the photo. According to the New York Times, " doctoring a typical passport is not very hard." ²   These passports are usually stolen from tourists while traveling abroad, or purchased from a tourists who are in need of extra cash. The tourist then tells its home country that their passport was stolen or lost. The price paid to tourists for their passports in Thailand is believed  to be $500.³

Blank passports,  on  the  other  hand, are passports that have been created by the State but has not been  issued to a  person.  These  documents are then filled in by the buyer.