Quoted from LyonsRonnie1:The biggest red flag to me, and I'll bet a lot of people will disagree with this... but him offering up a passport as an I.D. Americans typically don't use a passport as an I.D.... although it's a perfectly valid way to prove identity, and it makes sense... A typical (there's exceptions) American would offer a Drivers License... I've never had anybody say they'll show me their i.d. and show me a passport.
People do use their passports for identification more readily today based on requirements for work and other reasons than the past.
I did this for years (and still do), but I will share some important facts for the community for wisdom.
This does not mean the passport of person is a fake in itself, which upfront in this case it is, and not because of the bitter scam "conclusion".
Although I was not going to relate this point or information to the OP as it might make them feel worse, but if the buyer had done some checking they would have realized this was not "Danny Barnes". Let me share details based on experience based on this one piece documentation. People might want to read and remember this basic information for reference in the future.
In respect to the passport alone, as these are SEVEN offical reasons why this passport is a bad fake:
First, the font was changed for the name as an over the original name.
This is not the official US Government passport font, and never has been.
Look closely. This is the most obvious easy fault to spot.
Second, the passport identification is LAST name on the first block, FIRST name on the second block, followed by MIDDLE name.
Not in the reverse of "Danny Barnes"
Third, passports require FORMAL first documented names, not truncations or nicknames.
Hence, a first name should be "Daniel", unless that was truly his given name (unlikely).
Fourth, if the owner did a cross check against the passport number, they would have discovered this is not "Danny Barnes".
This requires access to US Federal database search, which I checked.
However, this same information can be requested to the the Department of State for validation.
I cannot tell you if the "real" passport holder is related to the criminal (again unlikely), and I cannot provide this information here anyway.
It will not help the OP, as the the person is most likely unrelated to the situation.
More likely the image was stolen from a website.
Fifth, the bottom of the passport identification is COMPLETELY wrong, it should state P<USA last name, first name, middle name>>>>>>
Numbers below are truncated. Again, reverse order for those that are unaware.
Sixth, if the owner did have this passport issued in Poland, and was not originally a US citizen, there are a few variances, but is beyond the scope of this posting. If he was, normally there is a CITY and COUNTRY, not just a country based on the issue at the US Embassy Consulate. Again, this makes no sense if you know the Department of State and their annotation.
Seven, the person's photo does not have proper starred watermark on the photo, which sometimes (not always) can be picked up on high resolution scans.
There are more, but I think people get the point.
In essence, this passport is a VERY poorly made fake, and the owner is clearly not from the Unites States, and has little attention to detail as a counterfeiter anyway, as if they had a real passport, they would not make these elementary mistakes.
By the nature of this scanned image, part of this passport is a security issue for the true original owner.
True, no one scans passports and would readily provide them for uploading across the internet or email, especially to unknown parties.
This is only done when absolutely required for identify verification of certain type of documentation.
My background is as a member of the US Federal Government for over 25 years.
Formerly, Department of Defense.
I have worked for the Department of State many times in my tenure.
I lived abroad for over 15 years.
I carry both a diplomatic (black), official (maroon), and standard (blue) United States passports and have required to use them regularly.
My recommendation remains again is ask for help in the future, as there are many people that could help have eliminated this situation before money was lost.
Just reach out, but please don't feed the trolls under the PinSide bridge.