Passport Scam - Mumbai & Delhi

oldhippie · Dec 5th, 2003, 15:27

I had lunch with a ex marine buddy who works at the US Consulate. He mentioned that they have received a lot of complaints in the past 6 months about pages being ripped out of passports.

This happens at the immigration desk on entry or at the airline counters during check in. These guys look for pages with certain unused visas and tear out the page. I spoke about this with some Indian colleagues here and they seemed to know about ..but did not want to go into detail.

Bill

pooch · Dec 6th, 2003, 01:34

There is an article on this on nriol.com, seems peculiar with Hyderabad airport.

oldhippie · Dec 6th, 2003, 05:51

Pooch
Excellent site. Do you have the exact link to the article?
I was told today that the most targeted passports are Australian, US, UK & Indian. There are also cases where a fake passport was returned to the person.

Bill

pooch · Dec 7th, 2003, 12:51

I can't find the very same link but here's a replicate of the article from another site

http://www.hints-n-tips.com/nriscam.htm

oldhippie · Dec 7th, 2003, 13:31

Pooch
Thanks for the link. It looks like they are now targeting tourists as well and the operation seems to have expanded to other cities. I forwarded the info to many of my NRI friends stateside and surprisingly they were not aware of this scam.

Bill

LuAnnandJawahar · Dec 9th, 2003, 13:00

Connection is too slow to check the linksmentioned above, but most passport scams are commited against NRIs rather than foreign tourists. There is a "gentleman" in Chittorgarh now who is posing as an oil magnate from the US and taking Rs 7,500 from the locals with the promise of a US work VISA.

malvin · Jan 18th, 2004, 19:15

i was told by a pio friend of mine about this scam on my recent visit to india.i could`nt believe it!altough there`re lot of stories making the rounds,how the passports go missing by the immigration check!!!the victims are nris and pios from english speaking countries.these passports are used to smuggle illegals in the western world.
the above scam,i was told,more or less to extract a handsome bakhshish at the time of flying out.

moojimooji · May 12th, 2004, 14:49

what does it mean, oldhippie, too many gandus, too few bullets?
whats gandus?

just wondering
*k

yu_gen · May 12th, 2004, 17:50

Are uk citizens' passports tampered with?

pooch · May 12th, 2004, 18:12

yu_gen I don't think it happens anymore nor was it widespread even in the past, it's never happened to me in my 20 plus trips in and out of India. I don't see why UK passports should be an exception but it sure is a bad passport to look for unused visas. It makes sense to rip out pages containing visas from Indian passports but Indian passports issued these days are machine readable, so are many visas, makes the job tougher but not impossible I guess.

Alan D · May 12th, 2004, 18:16

Hi yu_gen! Wecome to indiamike.com

There have been no reports of anyone on this forum having their passport tampered with.

The people involved have probably stopped now that there has been some publicity about this particular scam.

To be on the safe side you could check your passport after being stamped in and out of India.

yu_gen · May 14th, 2004, 19:03

Pooch, Alan, many thanks for your replies! I'm flying out on JUne 17th and just wanted to be sure about the situation. Cheers!

GoanCanuck · Oct 14th, 2004, 06:43

Quote:

Originally Posted by moojimooji

what does it mean, oldhippie, too many gandus, too few bullets?
whats gandus?

Gandu = a**hole

Lakshmi Bhabi · Jan 11th, 2006, 07:17

On my latest trip I had two incidents which this thread reminded me of - first, one of the 'frisking ladies' in Delhi airport security asked for my passport, checked me, then told me to step out. I had to wait and ask for my passport to be returned; she looked completely annoyed. In Bangalore airport at the Malaysia ticket counter, we were asked to turn in our passports, step aside and they would be returned. We waited stubbornly by the counter - I ended up asking to get my passport back. They found mine but claimed they had already returned my husband's. After a while they finally located it in a big pile.... Who knows if this is something to be suspicious of, but at least it's definitely reason to be extremely careful with your passport.

gopalk · Jan 11th, 2006, 14:25

This is just an urban legend. I dont think this has ever happened.

Dec 5th, 2003, 15:27	#1
oldhippie Member Join Date: Oct 2003 Location: Mumbai, India Posts: 413	Passport Scam - Mumbai & Delhi I had lunch with a ex marine buddy who works at the US Consulate. He mentioned that they have received a lot of complaints in the past 6 months about pages being ripped out of passports. This happens at the immigration desk on entry or at the airline counters during check in. These guys look for pages with certain unused visas and tear out the page. I spoke about this with some Indian colleagues here and they seemed to know about ..but did not want to go into detail. Bill __________________ Too Many Gandus, Too Few Bullets.

Dec 9th, 2003, 13:00	#6
LuAnnandJawahar Maha Guru Member Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: Delhi/U.S. Posts: 664	Connection is too slow to check the linksmentioned above, but most passport scams are commited against NRIs rather than foreign tourists. There is a "gentleman" in Chittorgarh now who is posing as an oil magnate from the US and taking Rs 7,500 from the locals with the promise of a US work VISA. __________________ Reject violence.

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Dec 6th, 2003, 01:34	#2
pooch Senior Member Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: Middle East <---->India Posts: 384	There is an article on this on nriol.com, seems peculiar with Hyderabad airport.

Dec 6th, 2003, 05:51	#3
oldhippie Member Join Date: Oct 2003 Location: Mumbai, India Posts: 413	Pooch Excellent site. Do you have the exact link to the article? I was told today that the most targeted passports are Australian, US, UK & Indian. There are also cases where a fake passport was returned to the person. Bill

Dec 7th, 2003, 12:51	#4
pooch Senior Member Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: Middle East <---->India Posts: 384	I can't find the very same link but here's a replicate of the article from another site http://www.hints-n-tips.com/nriscam.htm

Dec 7th, 2003, 13:31	#5
oldhippie Member Join Date: Oct 2003 Location: Mumbai, India Posts: 413	Pooch Thanks for the link. It looks like they are now targeting tourists as well and the operation seems to have expanded to other cities. I forwarded the info to many of my NRI friends stateside and surprisingly they were not aware of this scam. Bill

Jan 18th, 2004, 19:15	#7
malvin Senior Member Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: austria/chandigarh(punjab) Posts: 169	i was told by a pio friend of mine about this scam on my recent visit to india.i could`nt believe it!altough there`re lot of stories making the rounds,how the passports go missing by the immigration check!!!the victims are nris and pios from english speaking countries.these passports are used to smuggle illegals in the western world. the above scam,i was told,more or less to extract a handsome bakhshish at the time of flying out.

May 12th, 2004, 14:49	#8
moojimooji Member Join Date: May 2004 Location: vancouver canada Posts: 3	what does it mean, oldhippie, too many gandus, too few bullets? whats gandus? just wondering *k

May 12th, 2004, 17:50	#9
yu_gen Member Join Date: May 2004 Location: Germany Posts: 16	Are uk citizens' passports tampered with?

May 12th, 2004, 18:12	#10
pooch Senior Member Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: Middle East <---->India Posts: 384	yu_gen I don't think it happens anymore nor was it widespread even in the past, it's never happened to me in my 20 plus trips in and out of India. I don't see why UK passports should be an exception but it sure is a bad passport to look for unused visas. It makes sense to rip out pages containing visas from Indian passports but Indian passports issued these days are machine readable, so are many visas, makes the job tougher but not impossible I guess.

May 12th, 2004, 18:16	#11
Alan D Maha Guru Member Join Date: Aug 2001 Location: Southampton UK Posts: 1,869	Hi yu_gen! Wecome to indiamike.com There have been no reports of anyone on this forum having their passport tampered with. The people involved have probably stopped now that there has been some publicity about this particular scam. To be on the safe side you could check your passport after being stamped in and out of India.

May 14th, 2004, 19:03	#12
yu_gen Member Join Date: May 2004 Location: Germany Posts: 16	Pooch, Alan, many thanks for your replies! I'm flying out on JUne 17th and just wanted to be sure about the situation. Cheers!

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Jan 11th, 2006, 07:17	#14
Lakshmi Bhabi Senior Member Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: San Diego Posts: 200	On my latest trip I had two incidents which this thread reminded me of - first, one of the 'frisking ladies' in Delhi airport security asked for my passport, checked me, then told me to step out. I had to wait and ask for my passport to be returned; she looked completely annoyed. In Bangalore airport at the Malaysia ticket counter, we were asked to turn in our passports, step aside and they would be returned. We waited stubbornly by the counter - I ended up asking to get my passport back. They found mine but claimed they had already returned my husband's. After a while they finally located it in a big pile.... Who knows if this is something to be suspicious of, but at least it's definitely reason to be extremely careful with your passport.

Jan 11th, 2006, 14:25	#15
gopalk Senior Member Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Hyderabad Posts: 237	This is just an urban legend. I dont think this has ever happened.