Fake Passport Renewal Scams via Phone Calls
How callers impersonating passport agencies or official government renewal services charge processing fees and collect personal data for identity theft or worthless assistance.
Part of: Fake Passport Renewal Scams
Last reviewed: 9 June 2026
Passport renewal involves paperwork, timing, and official fees that many applicants find stressful. Cold callers who offer to simplify the process — acting as intermediaries who handle submissions for a fee — exploit this stress. In some cases, the service is entirely fraudulent: the application is never submitted, the personal data is used for identity theft, and the fee is lost. In other cases, a real application is submitted but the caller charges fees far above official rates for tasks the applicant could have completed themselves.
Phone calls work well for this scam because the caller can conduct a plausible interview about the applicant's travel plans and documentation, creating the impression of a thorough and professional service before requesting payment.
How this scam works on phone calls
The caller claims to be a passport expediting service or a government-contracted processing centre. They take the applicant through a detailed questionnaire and offer to handle the entire renewal process, including collecting and returning documents. An upfront fee is charged, which is described as covering their service charge and the official government fee.
In the most fraudulent version, no application is ever submitted and the documents sent to the caller — including the original passport — are retained for identity theft. In a lesser version, a real but unnecessary intermediary application is processed at inflated cost, and the passport is returned much later than it would have been under a direct application.
Common red flags
- Caller claims to be a government passport processing centre or official expediting service
- Requests original passport documents to be mailed to an address not corresponding to an official passport office
- Fee is substantially higher than the official government renewal fee
- Caller cannot provide verifiable government contract credentials
- Urgency to commit before checking the official government renewal website
- Service fee paid before any confirmation of genuine submission
How to protect yourself
- Renew your passport only through official government channels — check gov.uk (UK) or state.gov (US) for the correct process
- Never mail your original passport to any address other than the official passport agency
- Understand that expediting services are legal but should be verified through official directories
- Pay official fees directly to the government portal, not to a third-party service via phone
- Be especially cautious if travelling soon — scammers exploit urgency to cloud judgement
How to report it
- Report to Action Fraud (UK) or the IC3 (US)
- Report identity document handling concerns to your national fraud police unit
- Contact your card issuer to dispute charges from fraudulent passport services
Frequently asked questions
Is it ever legitimate to use a third-party passport expediting service?
Yes, legitimate registered expediting services exist, particularly for urgent renewals. The key is to find them through official directories or reputable recommendations, not through cold calls. Verify their registration before mailing any documents.
What should I do if I already mailed my passport to a suspected scammer?
Contact your national passport agency immediately to report the situation. File a police report — the loss of a passport document is a criminal matter. Also place a fraud alert on your credit file to protect against identity theft.