What to do if you shared your ID or passport
Identity documents can be used for impersonation and fraud. Monitoring and reporting reduce the risk.
Quick answer
Identity documents can be used for impersonation and fraud. Monitoring and reporting reduce the risk.
- Note exactly what you shared and with whom
- Contact relevant institutions to flag possible misuse
- Use any identity-theft support service in your country
- Save evidence
Do this now
Contact your bank and any identity-theft support service.
Understanding what happened
Sharing a photo of your passport, national ID, or driving licence gives a scammer the building blocks of identity theft. With your name, date of birth, document number, and photo, someone may try to open accounts, pass identity checks, or impersonate you to your bank.
The harm often appears later, not immediately - an unexpected account, a credit check you didn't request, or mail for services you never signed up for. That delay is why monitoring matters as much as any single action you take today.
You can't 'unshare' a document, but you can make it far less useful to a criminal: alerting the issuing authority where relevant, watching or freezing your credit, and staying alert to identity-check attempts. The steps below set that up so problems surface early and are easier to dispute.
First 5 minutes
- Note exactly what you shared and with whom
- Contact relevant institutions to flag possible misuse
- Use any identity-theft support service in your country
- Save evidence
First 24 hours
- Monitor for new accounts or loans in your name
- Consider a credit freeze where available
- Watch for targeted follow-up scams
- Report to your authority
What not to do
- Do not pay anyone who promises to recover your money for an upfront fee
- Do not act on follow-up messages claiming to be the fraud team
- Do not delete evidence before saving it
Evidence to save
- Screenshots of the message and sender details
- Phone numbers, usernames, links, and account or wallet addresses
- Transaction references, receipts, and amounts
How to report
Report through official channels for your area.
Find official reporting links for your country in the reporting directory.
- Do not use phone numbers or links from the suspicious message - look up the official ones yourself.
- Report quickly if money was sent or ID documents were shared; speed improves your options.
- Keep your evidence - see how to save scam evidence.
Beware of recovery scams: no legitimate service guarantees getting your money back for an upfront fee.
This is general safety information, not legal, financial, or cybersecurity incident-response advice.
Frequently asked questions
How quickly should I act?
As soon as possible. Fast action - especially contacting your bank - gives the best chance of limiting harm or stopping a payment.
Will I get my money back?
Sometimes, if you act quickly, but there is no guarantee. Be very cautious of anyone who promises guaranteed recovery for an upfront fee - that is a recovery scam.