Websites offering to sell passports from countries across the world have priced the Maltese travel document at under €1,400 and promise to ship it right to your door.
The same websites also sell fake drivers’ licences and ID cards for Malta and other countries for triple-digit prices and higher.
One of the websites claims to be the “sole supplier of actual 100% replica ID cards” but it is unclear whether a fake document will be sent after shelling out hundreds of euros or whether it is a scam.
One of the sites also claims to be one of the best fake ID makers on the web.
Browsing these sites, users can see a catalogue of fake government documents from countries such as Australia, Iceland and Luxembourg.
When clicking on one of the items, each site informs the user how they can apply for the document legally within that respective country.
A fake Maltese ID card is priced on the website at €544, while a fake Maltese driver’s licence will cost €635.
For example, on the page to purchase a Maltese passport, the website explains where to apply for a passport, what forms to fill out and the document’s requirements.
Each website features the same catalogue of fake documents accompanied by the same image references and descriptions.
A fake Maltese ID card is priced on the website at €544, while a fake Maltese driver’s licence will cost €635.
“As you probably can guess, popular payment processors or services such as Paypal would never accept payments to us due to the nature of our business,” one of the websites reads.
Instead, the site asks prospective customers to use money transfers or cryptocurrency for payment, a popular tactic for scam websites.
Once purchased, the website promises to create your fake document using submitted information such as a photo of yourself and personal information, all without the security that the document will work or even be delivered.
Times of Malta posed as a potential client interested in buying a Maltese passport. A spokesperson for the company calling themself ‘Sean’ promised that a passport will be delivered.
Customers asked to pay 50% of bill in advance
Explaining how the purchase works, Sean said customers are required to pay 50 per cent of the bill in advance as details are processed to create the document. Paying a percentage of a price in advance is another element popular among scams.
Once done, the website claims that a video showing the document will be sent for the customer to confirm.
“Once you confirm you will then be required to pay the balance 50% and we ship you the passport,” they said.
Anyone caught using fake passports, ID cards or licences risks hefty fines and effective jail terms. Police arrest and arraign scores of people every year on false document charges.
In one incident two years ago, a group of men admitted that they had purchased the fake travelling document for €500 each and were assured that they would not be stopped in Malta since they were travelling from Greece, another Schengen country.
Online services selling counterfeit official documents are also on the rise. Last June, Times of Malta exposed a racket that sells fake Transport Malta Y-plate tags via WhatsApp.