Say your PP photcopy falls into the hands of those organised gangs, somewhere in russia or ukraine or anywhere in the world as a matter of fact!
All they do is get a brand new fake passport with your details in it but with some one else's picture. Now, that is Identity thefty by definition. What they decide to use the fake passport for is any one's guess.
Where do they get a brand new fake passport from?
Have you just fallen into the media hype in the UK about "identity fraud"? It's funny - ID fraud is pretty much unknown in many parts of the world, yet it's all over the UK. Funnily enough, it was the Labour government which used this myth to attempt to introduce ID cards.
Here in the UK, i've known people who have accumulated huge debt bills and they haven't got a clue why they owe on credit cards and store cards.
That's what they've told you. I know someone who works for a bank in security, and many of these people have actually run up huge bills quite intentionally - often without the knowledge of the partner, who would understandably murder them.
Bear in mind that UK legislation requires employers to take photocopies of passports or other documents - and these must be kept on file.