The article presents an analysis of threats related to the implementation of a citizen's identity verification mechanism through the use of a mobile phone. This analysis concerns two possible models: based on identification data stored and processed in the telephone and based on identification data stored and processed within central registers. The analysis leads to the conclusion that the use of a mobile phone as a means of identifying a citizen is questionable and has serious shortcomings. The most important of them are: insufficient certainty as to the correctness of identity verification (if biometric tools are not used), high risk of identity theft through phishing or telephone theft, dependence of the identity verification process on the battery life of the phone and being within the GSM network range.