Tabitha Swatosh, a content creator from the US, was on holiday in Hawaii when she realized that she no longer had her purse, which contained her credit card, ID, and passport.
But all hope was not lost as the woman was soon contacted by a stranger who had found her missing items.
However, the man refused to return them, so Swatosh made a video about the whole ordeal.
In the now-viral clip that has been viewed over 23 million times, the woman explained that she was forced to plead with the creep to give her things back.
At one point, he even demanded a date with her.
22-year-old content creator Tabitha Swatosh lost her wallet and passport during a recent trip to Hawaii
Image credits: tabithaswatosh
She reached out to the public, hoping someone might've found it
Image credits: tabithaswatosh
And sure enough, a stranger contacted her
Image credits: tabithaswatosh
But he refused to give Tabitha back her belongings
So she shared their conversation online
Image credits: tabithaswatosh
Image credits: tabithaswatosh
Tabitha's story went viral
And people really felt for her
After a few days, the woman released an update on the situation
Image credits: tabithaswatosh
Image credits: tabithaswatosh
Image credits: tabithaswatosh
Image credits: tabithaswatosh
Passport data sells in three formats on the darkweb; digital scans, templates for creating a finished passport, and actual physical passports. These prices range from $5-$65 for scans, $29-$89 for templates, and up to $5,000 for the actual thing.
Modern entry procedures in most countries can catch forgeries, but some countries don't scan passport barcodes or microchips, and that's where even a low-cost phony copy can help a criminal gain entry.
A lost or stolen passport can help:
- fugitives to escape justice;
- foreign terrorist fighters to travel to or from conflict zones;
- human trafficking networks to get their victims across borders.
Even if no one tries to travel on your passport, it could still leave you vulnerable to identity theft—someone could use your passport for criminal purposes, such as opening a bank account as part of a money laundering process.
The procedure for reporting a lost/stolen passport will vary from country to country but authorities warn that you should do so immediately. Good thing everything turned out okay for Swatosh.
Luckily, this video had a happy ending
And everyone got to move on
