Iranian couple caught using fake Israeli passports

The young couple was arrested by the Ecuadorian authorities when trying to leave the country in January.

By Batya Jerenberg, World Israel News

An Iranian couple was arrested by the border authority in Quito, Ecuador, several days ago after trying to leave the country using fake Israeli passports, Yediot Ahronot reported on Monday.

The Israeli embassy in Quito was informed of the arrest, and the passports’ details were transmitted to Israel’s Population and Immigration Authority.

Its investigation revealed that the woman had been using the passport information of an 11-year-old girl who lives in the center of the country.

She still had her original passport, so the assumption is that when she was on a vacation abroad and a hotel or travel agency asked for a copy of her travel documents, the information was then passed on to the Iranians.

The man was using a passport belonging to an Israeli who recently reported that his passport had been stolen. Both Israelis were summoned to immediately replace their passports with new ones.

According to the Population and Immigration Authority, Israelis should be extremely careful with their personal information, as the country has many adversaries who would like to use such information for inimical purposes. The Authority regularly gets requests from foreign countries to authenticate Israeli passports their officials are suspicious about, said the report.

It is recommended, for example, that travelers only allow their passports to be copied at internationally known chains, whether hotels, car rental businesses, or travel companies.

It is more possible that small or fly-by-night operations could have more relaxed standards regarding privacy laws than multinational corporations.

The couple, in their twenties, had also used their false IDs to enter the South American country in late January.

It is not known as yet if they are members of the Iranian intelligence services or if they simply wanted to take advantage of the fact that Israelis do not need visas to visit Ecuador. They have not yet been released from custody.

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