Warning. Gov.UK site? SCAM?

Thanks for the warning Auntieflo.

Auntieflo

Yesterday I tried to renew our Vehicle Road Tax, on line. I thought I was on the Gov.UK site. The payment process appeared to have changed and was taking ages to process. Although there was nowhere to tick 12 / 6 months payment.

As I was unsure whether the amount had been taken I tried to check whether the Road Tax dates had been updated.
I then discovered that £0.50p had been taken from the bank, for Vehicle Information!
This morning a further £7.95 has been taken. Evidently I have signed up for a subscription! No I did not! (Knowingly)
But if I did not cancel within 24 hours, a MONTHLY subscription will be taken. I don't remember seeing all this on the site.
It took ages to discover what this was all about, but there is a site where we read that people have had very similar experiences.
I did find a phone number :- 0333 334 0917. Vehicle Information U.K.
Also found where I could 'chat' with a representative. I have been promised a refund, of the cash taken without giving consent. We shall see.
If I was being re-directed from a Gov.UK site, there should be Red Flags all over it to make people aware that the site will charge you for information you do not necessarily want.
Oh I am so cross, but wondered whether anyone else has been HAD, and wanted to put out a warning.

I have just paid my tax, no other amount, other that £20 was taken from my bank- doesn’t sound like you was on the correct site. Can you check with your bank? Good luck with that BTW

I was fell foul to this on what I thought was a Gov site for renewing passports online! I was charged the amount for a new passport and a whopping £40 admin fee! I was livid at my own stupidity

Similar happened to a friend renewing his driving license.

Thanks for your replies, now I don't feel quite so bad, but it's not good for your blood pressure!

This is a long standing fraud with all government departments that you can send money to.

I thought here was a change in the online rules sometime ago to make this difficult. It is a concwern that it is still happening.

I did a similar thing with land registry and paid much more than I would have done with the official site.

Never go for he first few sites you see on google, they have paid to go at the top of the page because they are making money out of people for a service they can get without extra fees on the official site.

news.wrexham.gov.uk/got-an-email-from-the-dvla-its-a-scam/ 2024 The Gov.uk DVLA site seems prone to these scams.... It's been going on since 2020 at least but there is little in the way of warning either from the government or via the media.

I did the same, Auntieflo. My bank picked it up immediately. I felt a complete idiot but the kind voice on the bank phoneline explained how clever the nearly- the- same- looking- website is designed.
I did it over the phone the next time.

You were lucky Chocolateloving gran, that your bank were so on the ball. We only picked up the £7.95 transaction because DH has a bank app and it pinged the debit. He wondered what I was buying so early in the morning, "what I had spent"! I said "nothing" and then we began to investigate. Nothing from our bank, HSBC!

Official government websites end with .gov, there is no UK.

Buttonjugs

Official government websites end with .gov, there is no UK.

I think it does end with .UK?

If you click on the name of the sender in the email header it should show where the email really came from

If you plan to travel to India I have heard from someone who has experienced this, that there are a large number of fake websites claiming they are the official site for getting an Indian visa. They are so very close to the real one - just one letter different for instance in the web address - that it is easy to make a mistake. They ended up paying a scammer over £100 and not having even started the genuine application process for the visa. PayPal allowed the payment to go through apparently and declined to take any action. So if you are going to India - be careful when you apply for your visa.

cc

Buttonjugs

Official government websites end with .gov, there is no UK.

I think it does end with .UK?

indeed.
www.gov.uk/change-address-driving-licence

The correct website:

www.gov.uk/vehicle-tax

We have to all be aware that if you Google an address the list of websites that comes up, never choose the first couple, look at them thoroughly first before committing, companies pay Google for clicks so they appear at the top of any search you may make so it’s a scammers paradise.

Buttonjugs

Official government websites end with .gov, there is no UK.

On the contrary, official government sites are always 'gov.uk'

If you haven’t already done so Auntieflo please phone your bank and report it. If it’s fraudulent activity they may take more money.

When I was attempting to pay a car park online a few days ago my account was accessed by a scammer. A random payment of £6 popped up on my phone screen before I had completed the transaction. I immediately phoned my bank and reported suspicious activity. Within mins they confirmed it was fraudulent and cancelled my card. They advised me that scammers take a small taken amount to test if they’ve managed to access your account and hope it goes unnoticed. Then come back and take as much as they can. These scammers also signed me up to pay them a monthly subscription for some fake company.

The bank blocked the scammer from my account and advised me to be extra vigilant as when they realise they’ve been blocked they sometimes then phone and pretend they are bank staff and are trying to prevent you from being scammed. They are very devious.

I am always vigilant and keep a close eye on my bank transactions and felt quite shaken by how easily that happened.

be wary of scanning QR codes to pay parking etc.
it is a well-known for scammers to cover the code with their own.
best to input the whole phone number.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/clddyp7y0nko

I used to get 3 or 4 scam calls a day, I would just hang up. But since I installed a trucall phone filter we have had none at all. They don't even try to leave a message. My friends are all on a safe list, so just come straight through. An advantage of a home phone I think.

My bank contacted me when someone about 200 miles away paid with my card for parking.
They have contacted us immediately when we have spent in Serbia, Macedonia, Albania.
They contacted us when someone was using our card in France.

We did years ago when applying for my sons provisional driving licence got charged an extra £20