Bhubaneswar: Passport office cautions public against fake websites

BHUBANESWAR: The regional passport office in Bhubaneswar has issued an advisory, cautioning people against some fake websites that masquerade as the official portal for online passport-related services. The Crime Branch too has started an awareness drive to prevent passport applicants from being duped by bogus.
“We have been coming across applicants, who were cheated after browsing through fraudulent websites and mobile applications. The official website for applying passport services is www.passportindia.gov.in,” regional passport officer (Bhubaneswar) Sudhansu Sekhar Mishra said. Applicants can also use the official mobile app—mPassport Seva to avail themselves of related services.
The fake websites that have come to the notice of the passport office are–www.indiapassport.org, www.online-passportindia.com, www.passport-seva.in, www.passport-india.in, www.passportindiaporlal.in and www.applypassport.org.
“We have found that the websites and mobile apps are collecting data from applicants and charging exorbitant prices for filling up the online forms and scheduling appointments for passports and other related services. We came across some victims, who are highly educated,” Mishra said. Sources said the fraudulent websites charged between Rs 4,500 to Rs 6,500 for a passport, whose real cost is only Rs 1,500 for normal and Rs 3,500 for Tatkal passport.
While the regional passport office could not ascertain the exact number of complaints they received, sources said at least 15 applicants were cheated by the fake website managers in the last ten months. However, the victims have so far not lodged any complaints with the police. While the passport office requested the police to keep tabs on the fake portals, they have formally not lodged complaint against the fraudsters.
“We normally received complaints relating to the use of forged documents to get passports by applicants. If we receive complaints against fake websites, we will act,” deputy commissioner of police, Anup Kumar Sahoo said.
The regional passport office here issues around 1.5 lakh passports in a year. At least 25 suspected Bangladeshi migrants were arrested in the past three years for forging documents to get Indian passports here. The accused confessed before the police that they took the help of brokers to procure fake voter ID cards, date of birth certificates and residence proofs.
“We often find brokers outside the passport office. The police and passport office authorities should act tough against them,” said Sidharth Das, a senior lawyer.