By Holly Gilbert Stowell
The Government Accountability Office (GAO) has released a study showing that U.S. passports have been issued to registrants using the names of deceased persons, incarcerated individuals, people with active felony warrants, or those who used an incorrect Social Security number. The study covered passports issued in fiscal years 2009 and 2010. But the GAO says that during those years, no pervasive fraud was found. For example, of the 28 million passports issued, 13,570 were issuances to “individuals who used the SSN, but not the name, of a deceased person.” They have ruled out fraud in several of the cases and are working further to rule it out in each case. The GAO says it used information from 2009 and 2010 because that is the most recent passport data available when it began its review. The State Department says it has taken steps to decrease fraud in the issuance of passports by intensifying its cross-check databases with other agencies, such as the Social Security Administration, federal Bureau of Prisons, and U.S. Marshal’s Service.
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