Mobiles 'more precious' than passports

Britons value their iPods, jewellery and mobile phones more than their passports, new research has revealed.

A survey by the Identity and Passport Service found that many people admitted that they did not always take great care of their passport, despite over half of those surveyed saying that they believed passports were worth more than £500 to criminals on the black market.

Only 22% of those surveyed said that they kept their passport locked away, compared to 28% who said that they kept iPods, jewellery and other valuables locked away.

The survey also found that many adults regarded reporting the theft of a mobile phone as a higher priority than their passport. Almost eight out of ten said that they would contact their mobile phone company on the day of the burglary to report their phone being stolen, while 97% would report stolen credit cards immediately.

However, only 64% said that they would take immediate action to report the loss of their passport.

Only a fifth of people keep a copy of their passport in order to help in the event of it being lost or stolen, the IPS said. However, 37% do keep a separate copy of their passport number.

IPS Executive Director Bernard Herndan said: "Passports are often not seen as valuable so get left out on a sideboard or put in a file. However, to a thief they are far more valuable than many gadgets and are likely to get stolen in a burglary if not securely locked away.

"Your passport is a key identity document and must be looked after. Identity fraud is one of Britain's fastest growing crimes, enabling other crimes such as illegal immigration, money laundering, people trafficking and terrorism.

"A stolen passport should always be reported immediately to minimise the risk of it being used as part of ongoing criminal activity."

(KMcA)