Can I use a copy of your passport to apply for a loan

Modern scammers have a solid arsenal of ways to withdraw money from respectable citizens. It is impossible to foresee all the moves of scammers, so experts recommend a simple and reliable way of protection — to carefully protect your data from outsiders. You need to be especially vigilant with your passport and its copies, because situations where attackers receive loans from other people's documents are being recorded more and more often in Russia.

Is it possible to use a copy of your passport to get a loan? Do credit institutions have the right to issue money without presenting the original of the main identity document? Let's look into this difficult, but very important issue in order not to make mistakes in the future, which can be very expensive, and in the full sense of the word.

Blogger Rami Zaitsman, creator of the YouTube channel "Economist for an hour", claims that it is not difficult to get a loan on a copy of a passport. There are at least ten organizations on the territory of the Russian Federation that provide online loans to people with a bad credit history and working without official employment.

The contract is executed remotely, without visiting the office. All you need to show the borrower is a photo of your passport. After receiving the image of the document, such a credit institution immediately issues a loan.

The average size of the loan provided by such an organization is 30 thousand rubles. The money is transferred to a bank card or an online wallet. However, in the first case, the bank card must be issued in the name of the person indicated in the copy of the passport. But the transfer to electronic wallets is ideal for scammers, since they open them by presenting the same copy of the passport.

This common type of fraud is possible solely due to the bad faith of credit institutions. Any lawyer knows that an ordinary copy has no legal force. Moreover, this paper cannot even be considered a document.

An organization that ignores the current legislation is fully responsible for the transaction. The passport holder himself, a copy of which fell into the hands of fraudsters, bears no responsibility for what happened and he has nothing to worry about.

Experts assure that a reputable credit institution operating in the legal field, before issuing money to a person, will require to present the original passport. There is an important nuance here — it is not just anyone who should show the document, but its owner.

Even if you apply for a loan yourself, it is better to deal with law-abiding companies. You can check whether the company is officially operating or not in the register of MFIs, which can be found on the website of the Central Bank. All companies eligible to work in Russia, received a license and is on the resource of the Central Bank.

The absence of a credit institution in the "Directory of Financial market participants" is a signal that it is better not to have anything to do with it. There is a high probability that this company will not follow the rules of loan processing and you will only get into trouble.

A company operating within the framework of the law will not issue a loan for a copy of the passport. In this case, it is easy to fall for a fake and lose your money. But even worse is that such cases are recorded by law enforcement agencies and the business reputation of a credit institution may irreparably suffer.

A reputable company will not only require the original passport, but will also conduct a scoring check and multi-stage identification. Verification of SNILS data is usually carried out, verification through a partner bank, as well as mandatory photo or video identification. Often, in order to make a decision on the issue of money, additional documents are required from the borrower.

Unfortunately, financial organizations that violate laws are still found in our country. They are attracted by the rapid build-up of the customer base and easy profit, so a copy of the passport is more than enough.

It is quite simple to protect yourself from clever fraudsters and unscrupulous credit organizations. First of all, you need to monitor to whom and for what you are transferring a copy of your passport or its original. Ideally, your document should not get to strangers at all, even for the shortest period of time.

If a person or company causes you the slightest doubt, refuse to show them a passport without hesitation. You also need to remember that by "pouring" pictures of documents on file sharing sites, you risk becoming a victim of criminality. Do not forget about the ban on posting personal data on social networks and forums.

If an organization needs your passport or a copy of it, it would be useful to inquire about how legally this company operates and whether it has any problems with the law. A special case is if your documents have been stolen or lost — in this case, you should immediately contact the migration service or the police.

By writing a statement about the loss of your passport, you will protect yourself, because from the moment of its registration, the passport will be considered invalid. A separate security measure can be considered a periodic check of your credit history — this way you can find out in a timely manner about loans issued without your knowledge.

If fraud is detected, you should immediately contact the police and the organization that issued the loan. This is necessary so that the situation is sorted out as quickly as possible, in hot pursuit. If a third party has issued a loan to you, then not only will you not pay it, but you also have every right to compensation for moral damage.

After clarifying the circumstances, the credit institution and the Credit History Bureau are obliged to delete the information about the loan and restore the reputation of the injured person. Law enforcement officers will be engaged in the search for fraudsters to bring them to justice.

For Russian lovers of easy money, loans are a gold mine, so information about new types of fraud appears in the press almost daily.