by NADEEM BADSHAH PLATFORMS URGED TO STOP VULNERABLE ASYLUM SEEKERS AND REFUGEES FROM BEING EXPLOITED MIGRANTS are being targeted by fraudsters selling fake British passports on Facebook, an Eastern Eye investigation has found. Criminals are openly selling bogus travel documents and ID cards on the social media website for between £800 and £2,600. One seller wrote he was part of a group of “IT professionals and database technicians that are specialised in the production of passport, license, ID cards, birth certificates, diplomas” and has produced the documents for people in over 170 countries. He wrote: “We are unique producers of authentic high quality documents, real genuine data base registered and novelty passports, fake UK ID cards…UK passport and other…buy novelty passport.” Three email addresses and a phone number were included. Another company had a link to a YouTube video showing ID cards from different countries and was offering to “Buy Fake/Real passports and documents online”. A separate firm posted a video of an email address to contact to purchase “Fake UK E-passports”. Campaigners are worried asylum seekers and refugees in the UK will be duped by rogue firms offering passports or may be tempted to turn to them due to the rising cost of Home Office fees. Entering the UK with a fake passport is a criminal offence under the Immigration Act. If a migrant provides false ID documents, they can be banned from entering UK for 10 years, be thrown out of the country or face a prison sentence. Mohammad Yasin, the Labour MP for Bedford and Kempston in Bedfordshire, said Facebook must be proactive in removing bogus adverts. He told Eastern Eye: “They should ensure their systems are robust enough to identify such false advertising before publication. “But consumers have a part to play too. Rising Home Office fees…
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