Home Office official says fraud level appears to be rising, as applicants get more sophisticated

A top British Home Office official says an estimated 10,000 British passports were issued last year to fraudulent applicants.

In a written statement to parliament Tuesday, Home Office official Joan Ryan said the level of attempted fraud appears to be rising, as applicants get more sophisticated.

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Authorities say new procedures, including requiring face-to-face interviews, are set to take effect in May. They say those procedures would have helped identify two men convicted of terror-related offenses who managed to secure false passports in the past three years.

One of them is now serving an 18-year prison sentence for a bombing in Casablanca. Authorities say the other, convicted terrorist Dhiren Barot, held at least two bogus passports before his arrest three years ago. He is now serving a 40-year sentence for conspiracy to commit murder.

Some information for this report was provided by AFP, AP and Reuters.