Here are our key findings:
- The average price of a digital passport scan is $14.71.
- If proof of address or proof of identification —a selfie, utility bill and/or driver’s license—is added to a passport scan, the average price jumps to $61.27.
- Australian passport scans were the most common, and yet, the most expensive ($32).
- The average price of a real, physical passport is $13,567.
- The average price of a counterfeit, physical passport is $1,478.
Passport scans, be they forged or real, are often accompanied by other forms of identification, typically a utility bill, selfie of the ID card owner holding up their ID, and/or a driver’s license. These add-ons are reflected in the price—they cost significantly more than just a digital scan. The reason for this is because multiple forms of ID are usually required to pass proof-of-address and proof-of-identification checks on websites. These checks are often part of the account recovery process in which a user has somehow lost access to their account and must prove who they are to regain access.
The bulk of our analysis focused on digital scans and images of real passports. In total, we found 48 unique listings for real passports scans, 38 of which were not sold with any accompanying proof of ID or address. Those 48 spanned 20 countries, the prices of which you can view in this table:
