Son on way to heathrow had bag stolen with passport

Archergirl

Just make sure in future he gets insurance and pays back bank of mum and dad this time. how else will he learn. He was incredibly lucky

Bogof_Babe

It sounds like the thieves didn't get hold of anything that would be the slightest use to them, so I hope they have at least learned a valuable lesson.

Makes you wonder what sort of lowlife spend their time causing problems for innocent people .

shaun_from_Africa

Bogof_Babe wrote: »

It sounds like the thieves didn't get hold of anything that would be the slightest use to them, so I hope they have at least learned a valuable lesson.

Unless of course they were specifically going after passports, something that's possible seeing as they were aware of the OP's son having a suitcase with them and there being a good chance of also having a passport.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-26783486

EconomicsGirl

As they were targeting Heathrow I would be fairly certain passports are their target so sadly they got what they wanted.

I hope CCTV caught them somewhere and they catch them.

smudge56

leylandsunaddict wrote: »

I wouldn't have booked another flight until I had the passport in my hand and an approved esta.

The airline won't be so understanding about doing a cheap change if he ends up cancelling this flight.

The premium service would never have been granted if he hadn't had travel booked within the next seven days.

Bogof_Babe

What use is someone else's passport, if the thief does not physically resemble the victim?

Farel01

It's much easier to create a counterfeit passport with a real passport. If done well, it's hard to distinguish and yes on airports they pay a lot of attention, but what if someone fraudulently opened a bank account in their name, the bank people are not going to be as scrupulous.

I would suggest your son keep an eye out on his credit report for a while, getting your identity stolen can be a massive invasion and ruin your credit for years to come.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/personalfinance/money-saving-tips/10388791/Our-130000-bill-from-identity-theft.html

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-26783486

EconomicsGirl

Stolen passports can be used for identity theft.

Found an article online saying they sell for around £1000 each.

This is quite extreme but this guy had his passport stolen and people were chasing him for £130,000. Used a different photo.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/personalfinance/money-saving-tips/10388791/Our-130000-bill-from-identity-theft.html

If someone gets a utility bill as well which lets face it isn't difficult they set up a bank account and can do all kinds of money laundering etc.

toniq

Son has arrived home safe and sound thankfully!

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