Concern about the authenticity of a passport image

In situations involving potential fraud concerns, initial impressions can be misleading, and what appears irregular at first may have a reasonable explanation once the facts are examined.

Authority

This investigation was conducted under section 69 of the Public Service Employment Act, (S.C. 2003, c.22, ss. 12, 13).

Issue

This investigation examined whether a candidate in a Federal Student Work Experience Program appointment process committed fraud by submitting a falsified image of their passport to the department to meet the citizenship requirement.

Conclusion

The investigation concluded that the candidate did not commit fraud during the appointment process.

Facts

Under the citizenship section of their job application to the Federal Student Work Experience Program, the candidate selected “Canadian citizen or permanent resident.” After the assessment was completed, the hiring manager asked the candidate to provide the expiry date of their passport to meet and document the citizenship requirement for the staffing file. In response, the candidate provided a picture of their passport by email.

The hiring manager questioned the authenticity of the image since it appeared to be missing key information. When the hiring manager later asked the candidate to provide the original passport, the candidate replied that they only had a picture of it at that time. As the manager’s concerns about the authenticity of the passport were not resolved, they contacted their staffing recourse team and did not proceed with the candidate’s appointment. During the investigation, the candidate explained that they had stored a digital picture of their passport on their mobile device using an application designed to hold encrypted identity documents.

During the investigation, it was determined that downloads from the mobile application are not exact photographic copies of physical documents. Rather, for downloads, the mobile application generates a digital version that shows only selected data necessary for identity verification. As a result, some key fields may be missing. The candidate showed the investigator both the physical passport and how it appeared within the mobile application. In the mobile application, the passport image accurately matched the physical document. However, when the candidate downloaded a version of the passport from the mobile application to their phone, it appeared inauthentic due the application’s security features. This was the version they had emailed the hiring manager.

The candidate’s demonstration, along with the investigator’s review of the mobile application, provided a reasonable explanation for the image submitted, which had initially appeared inauthentic to the hiring manager.

Finally, officials at Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada confirmed that a passport matching the candidate’s biographical data had been issued to the candidate. With this confirmation, along with the candidate’s explanation and demonstration, which adequately accounted for the discrepancies that led to the investigation, the investigation concluded that the candidate had not committed fraud.

Corrective actions

Since the investigation found no evidence of fraud, no corrective actions were ordered.

File Number:26-27-03