A handful of Americans have recently voiced concerns on social media about having their passports reported stolen, causing them headaches abroad.
The travelers had not realized anything was amiss until they landed overseas, unable to get into the foreign country. Surprisingly, many airlines take a cursory look at the passports before boarding but don’t check their status.
As the Daily Mail has reported, some passengers have flown halfway across the world, only to be told by Interpol that their passports have been flagged as lost or stolen. Only the passport holder can report it as lost or stolen; for someone else to do so, they would need to have several critical pieces of information, such as the passport holder's social security number, name, birthdate, and more.
“This is not okay. We spoke to the airlines, and they said it’s not their job to check our passports,” said Parker Anderson on his TikTok account last week. “Why is that not checked when getting on an international flight? The responsibility of an airline is to ensure the safety of people getting on a flight and they're not even doing a full check of your passport? How can they say they’re keeping us safe?”
Anderson and his girlfriend made it all the way from the U.S. to Thailand before being told his passport had been flagged. Although they made it back home, their trip was ruined and he said they were financially and emotionally scarred.
Travel influencer Gabby Beckford took to social media to share her thoughts on the viral stories, and offer up tips for travelers to be aware of before taking their next international trip. "My theory: AI glitches from system upgrades? You recently became able to apply to/renew your passport online, so there’s clearly work being done on the system. Save the phone number and physical address of the U.S. Embassy of the country you’re going to. And also the National Passport Information Center: 1-888-874-7793)" Beckford posted on her social media account packslight.
It remains unclear why someone would report another passport stolen or lost, unless as part of an identity theft scheme. Experts also note that if you report your passport lost yourself, but then find it, the passport is still on record as being lost, and you should contact authorities to update the record.
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