Unlawfully altered documents There are a number of different ways to alter a genuine document:
substitution of a page – usually the bio-data page
substitution of the photograph or image
alteration of personal details
Substituted pages Passports are made up from sheets of paper which are then stitched together and cut to size. The pages and cover should therefore all be in perfect alignment. To forge a document it may first be taken apart and then re-assembled by hand, making it difficult for all the pages to sit flush as before. The machine readable zone (MRZ) Note the incorrect characters in this machine readable zone (MRZ) on a forged Dutch passport (compare with those set out in Machine readable zone - optical character recognition). Substituted photographs and images Image protection Most photographs and digital images in passports or ID cards will be protected by an ink stamp, an emboss, or a laminate with visible safeguards. An ink stamp is produced with wet ink and should not be printed. Note the printed portion of the stamp on the photograph in the forgery differs from the stamp on the rest of the card. Printing Documents have evolved, with most moving away from traditional ‘stuck-in’ photographs. Most paper biodata pages contain images which are digitally printed directly onto the page, as seen in this genuine Portuguese passport. This printed image should not react any differently when viewed under a UV light. Use different light sources In this forged Portuguese passport the image has been substituted. The new image has been printed onto a piece of paper and placed onto the page under the laminate. Using a transmitted light source (left) you can see the edges of the new piece of paper. Under a UV light source (right), you can see the new piece of paper fluorescing brightly under UV light - ordinary commercial paper has been used. Laminate overlays Many forgers simply print a new image (or parts of an image) onto a thin clear laminate and place it on top of the page. In this forged USA passport a new face has been added to the original holder’s image. Examine holographic and UV features as the new image may incorrectly sit above them. Laser engraving Passports or ID cards made with polycarbonate (a type of plastic) will have a laser engraved image of the holder. This image should display shades of grey/brown (burned carbon). Forgeries usually have printed images which contain jet black or coloured dots. Neither of these should be seen in laser engraved images. Altered details A forger will often alter details in conjunction with changing a page or photograph/image. The passport has been forged by changing the date of birth. The forger has abraded the original pen ink and then over-written a new date.