Passport page tearing at airport--can anyone confirm?

Rockyp44 · Oct 17th, 2009, 16:26

I got this email from an Indian friend who lives abroad. Read it with a grain of salt, at least til someone on IM confirms.

Passport Tearing at Indian Airports....Read it Carefully.!!!

Be Careful at the Indian Airports, This is a well organized conspiracy by Indian Immigration, Police, Customs and Air India staff with networking at all the Indian International Airports.. Be careful when ever you give your passport to Immigration/ Customs/Air India staff. The pass port can be easily tampered and can create trouble to you. They have found easy way of making money from NRIs. This is the way it works:

At the time of the passenger's departure, if the passenger is not looking at the officer while he is stamping the exit, the officer very cleverly tears away one of the page from the passport. When the passenger leaves the immigration counter, the case is reported on his computer terminal with full details. Now all over India they have got full details of the passenger with Red Flag flashing on the Passport number entered by the departure immigration officer. They have made their money by doing above.

On arrival next time, he is interrogated.

Subject to the passenger's period of stay abroad, his income and standing etc., the price to get rid of the problem is settled by the Police and Immigration people. If someone argues, his future is spoiled because there are always some innocent fellows who think the honesty is the basis of getting justice in India ....

Please advise every passenger to be careful at the airport. Whenever they hand over the passport to the counters of Air India , or immigration or the customs, they must be vigilant, should not remove eyes from the passport even if the officer in front tries to divert their attention.

Also, please pass this information to all friends, media men and important politicians. Every month 20-30 cases are happening all over India to rob the NRIs the minute he lands. Similar case has happened with Aramco's Arifuddin. He was travelling with his family. They had six passports. They
got the visa of America and decided to go via Hyderabad from Jeddah. They reached Hyderabad . Stayed about a month and left for the States. When they reached the States, the page of the American visa on his wife's passport was missing. At the time of departure from Hyderabad it was there, the whole family had to return to Hyderabad helplessly. On arrival at Bombay back, they were caught by the police and now it is over 2 months, they are running after the Police, Immigration officers and the Courts. On going in to details with him, he found out the following: One cannot imagine, neither can believe, that the Indian Immigration dept can play such a nasty game to harass the innocent passengers.

All the passengers travelling to & fro India via Bombay and Hyderabad must be aware of this conspiracy. Every month 15 to 20 cases are taking place, at each mentioned airport, of holding the passengers in the crime of tearing away the passport pages.On interviewing some of them, none of them was aware of what had happened. They don't know why, when and who tore away the page from the middle of the passport. One can imagine the sufferings of such people at the hands of the immigration, police and the court procedures in India after that. The number of cases is increasing in the last 2-3 years. People who are arriving at the immigration, they are questioned and their passports are being held and they have to go in interrogation. Obviously, the conspiracy started about 2 to 3 years ago, now the results are coming. Some of the Air India counter staff too is involved in this conspiracy.

ribhu95 · Oct 17th, 2009, 16:37

Sorry about the language.....load of nonsense......

I have seen this mail / contents thereof floating in internet space for more than 3 years.

I am myself a prolific international traveller and have never faced this.

False, virulent contents ..........baseless.

ribhu

capt_mahajan · Oct 17th, 2009, 16:55

Ditto.

LilBoy BigTown · Oct 17th, 2009, 17:09

Goodness me. 20 to 30 incidents per month at several airports for a considerable period of time, and this is the first I have heard of it, on IM?

Tell me I am a dinosaur.

nycank · Oct 17th, 2009, 17:44

Urban Myth.

Nick-H · Oct 17th, 2009, 18:29

Crap fiction.*

(ie I agree with nycank, LBT and Capt!).

A good scam has to be both practical and believable; this is neither. Whilst the government department may not be pure, white, and without sin, there is absolutely no way that any form of corruption would be built into the system.

Added to which, all the stories I have heard, from reliable sources, of immigration-dept scams have been old stories (like the 2-window disappearing passport scam) that would not fit with current systems. Those guys are sitting fairly close to each other, under each other's eye as well as the public eye. Whilst anything is possible, it just highly unlikely for them to get away with anything.

*Sorry Rocky: nothing personal, of course!!!

sakamath · Oct 20th, 2009, 21:02

Besides, do they need to tear a page off a passport for this? We fill out all details (passport as well as flight) in the disembarkation card while entering India. If there was such a scam, this would more likely be the source rather than commit a serious crime of altering the passport. It must be noted that the passport is owned by the state that issues it not the person who possess it.

namaste_cat · Oct 22nd, 2009, 21:43

Urban legend. This story's been doing the rounds for years.

bsprasad · Oct 23rd, 2009, 14:28

Is it that easy to tear a page from passport? that too when the immigration counter is open at all the sides and there are thousands of people swarming here and there...?

Its a hoax floated around by anti Indian elements, who could not digest that indian tourism is growing day by day.

Its the same Logic, Whenever tourism picks up in Kashmir, our neighbour will start their antics...

Kashmir: India's Pride - Neighbours envy

machadinha · Oct 23rd, 2009, 16:39

Quote:

Originally Posted by bsprasad

Its a hoax floated around by anti Indian elements

... Or by bored teenagers, one presumes.

Nick-H · Oct 23rd, 2009, 17:29

I think Mach's idea sounds about right.

Kashmir, by the way, must be a wonderful place --- because they obviously threw out all the high-pressure sales people!

(Sorry... was just having a rant about said persons in Spencer Plaza, Chennai, in another thread)

machadinha · Oct 23rd, 2009, 17:42

Heheh. I was just picturing ISI going, How shall we get at them this time? Ah, eureka: email hoax!

edwardseco · Oct 23rd, 2009, 23:22

Might have been real in some form at one time. But, I doubt such an obvious scam would continue and certainly not beyond one airport as coordination costs build up. I think the primary source of this was a scam on NRIs who seem only to willing to fall for bribe requests. However, it caused a small storm of publicity. Light & noise scare away the snakes..

Oct 17th, 2009, 16:26	#1
Rockyp44 RP Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: Chennai, India Posts: 244	Passport page tearing at airport--can anyone confirm? I got this email from an Indian friend who lives abroad. Read it with a grain of salt, at least til someone on IM confirms. Passport Tearing at Indian Airports....Read it Carefully.!!! Be Careful at the Indian Airports, This is a well organized conspiracy by Indian Immigration, Police, Customs and Air India staff with networking at all the Indian International Airports.. Be careful when ever you give your passport to Immigration/ Customs/Air India staff. The pass port can be easily tampered and can create trouble to you. They have found easy way of making money from NRIs. This is the way it works: At the time of the passenger's departure, if the passenger is not looking at the officer while he is stamping the exit, the officer very cleverly tears away one of the page from the passport. When the passenger leaves the immigration counter, the case is reported on his computer terminal with full details. Now all over India they have got full details of the passenger with Red Flag flashing on the Passport number entered by the departure immigration officer. They have made their money by doing above. On arrival next time, he is interrogated. Subject to the passenger's period of stay abroad, his income and standing etc., the price to get rid of the problem is settled by the Police and Immigration people. If someone argues, his future is spoiled because there are always some innocent fellows who think the honesty is the basis of getting justice in India .... Please advise every passenger to be careful at the airport. Whenever they hand over the passport to the counters of Air India , or immigration or the customs, they must be vigilant, should not remove eyes from the passport even if the officer in front tries to divert their attention. Also, please pass this information to all friends, media men and important politicians. Every month 20-30 cases are happening all over India to rob the NRIs the minute he lands. Similar case has happened with Aramco's Arifuddin. He was travelling with his family. They had six passports. They got the visa of America and decided to go via Hyderabad from Jeddah. They reached Hyderabad . Stayed about a month and left for the States. When they reached the States, the page of the American visa on his wife's passport was missing. At the time of departure from Hyderabad it was there, the whole family had to return to Hyderabad helplessly. On arrival at Bombay back, they were caught by the police and now it is over 2 months, they are running after the Police, Immigration officers and the Courts. On going in to details with him, he found out the following: One cannot imagine, neither can believe, that the Indian Immigration dept can play such a nasty game to harass the innocent passengers. All the passengers travelling to & fro India via Bombay and Hyderabad must be aware of this conspiracy. Every month 15 to 20 cases are taking place, at each mentioned airport, of holding the passengers in the crime of tearing away the passport pages.On interviewing some of them, none of them was aware of what had happened. They don't know why, when and who tore away the page from the middle of the passport. One can imagine the sufferings of such people at the hands of the immigration, police and the court procedures in India after that. The number of cases is increasing in the last 2-3 years. People who are arriving at the immigration, they are questioned and their passports are being held and they have to go in interrogation. Obviously, the conspiracy started about 2 to 3 years ago, now the results are coming. Some of the Air India counter staff too is involved in this conspiracy.

Oct 17th, 2009, 16:55	#3
capt_mahajan Infidel Sufi Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: styx Posts: 13,601	Ditto. __________________ . Outside the machine

Oct 17th, 2009, 17:44	#5
nycank Clueless Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Homeless Posts: 1,307	Urban Myth. __________________ bade bhaisaheb is outsourced

Oct 20th, 2009, 21:02	#7
sakamath reMember Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: Toronto, Canada Posts: 53	Besides, do they need to tear a page off a passport for this? We fill out all details (passport as well as flight) in the disembarkation card while entering India. If there was such a scam, this would more likely be the source rather than commit a serious crime of altering the passport. It must be noted that the passport is owned by the state that issues it not the person who possess it. __________________ _/\|\|\_

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Oct 17th, 2009, 16:37	#2
ribhu95 Senior Member Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: Bangalore Posts: 262	Sorry about the language.....load of nonsense...... I have seen this mail / contents thereof floating in internet space for more than 3 years. I am myself a prolific international traveller and have never faced this. False, virulent contents ..........baseless. ribhu

Oct 17th, 2009, 17:09	#4
LilBoy BigTown Visionary Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: Sydney Posts: 636	Goodness me. 20 to 30 incidents per month at several airports for a considerable period of time, and this is the first I have heard of it, on IM? Tell me I am a dinosaur.

Oct 17th, 2009, 18:29	#6
Nick-H This is just a cameo appearance Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Chennai, India Posts: 36,189	Crap fiction.* (ie I agree with nycank, LBT and Capt!). A good scam has to be both practical and believable; this is neither. Whilst the government department may not be pure, white, and without sin, there is absolutely no way that any form of corruption would be built into the system. Added to which, all the stories I have heard, from reliable sources, of immigration-dept scams have been old stories (like the 2-window disappearing passport scam) that would not fit with current systems. Those guys are sitting fairly close to each other, under each other's eye as well as the public eye. Whilst anything is possible, it just highly unlikely for them to get away with anything. *Sorry Rocky: nothing personal, of course!!!

Oct 22nd, 2009, 21:43	#8
namaste_cat Kashmiri-Punjabi Sherni Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Amreeka Posts: 940	Urban legend. This story's been doing the rounds for years.

Oct 23rd, 2009, 14:28	#9
bsprasad Account Closed Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: Chennai Posts: 468	Is it that easy to tear a page from passport? that too when the immigration counter is open at all the sides and there are thousands of people swarming here and there...? Its a hoax floated around by anti Indian elements, who could not digest that indian tourism is growing day by day. Its the same Logic, Whenever tourism picks up in Kashmir, our neighbour will start their antics... Kashmir: India's Pride - Neighbours envy

Oct 23rd, 2009, 17:29	#11
Nick-H This is just a cameo appearance Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Chennai, India Posts: 36,189	I think Mach's idea sounds about right. Kashmir, by the way, must be a wonderful place --- because they obviously threw out all the high-pressure sales people! (Sorry... was just having a rant about said persons in Spencer Plaza, Chennai, in another thread)

Oct 23rd, 2009, 17:42	#12
machadinha brother my cup is empty member Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: yörp Posts: 14,369	Heheh. I was just picturing ISI going, How shall we get at them this time? Ah, eureka: email hoax!

Oct 23rd, 2009, 23:22	#13
edwardseco Maha Guru Member Join Date: Sep 2001 Location: Land that shakes and bakes. Posts: 5,833	Might have been real in some form at one time. But, I doubt such an obvious scam would continue and certainly not beyond one airport as coordination costs build up. I think the primary source of this was a scam on NRIs who seem only to willing to fall for bribe requests. However, it caused a small storm of publicity. Light & noise scare away the snakes..

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