To be so cross that I have been scammed out of nearly £300

[SuedeEffectPochette]

Renewing a passport. Clicked on a link of what I thought was the official website. Paid £70 a passport. And there are four! And all they did was fill the form in. So cross. Hoping my credit card provider will refund otherwise I will be having to go to the County Court. Miserable me. No one can afford to lose that amount of money TBH I can afford more than most but I can't be the only poor soul who has fallen for this. So angry that somewhere out there other people are victims too, and maybe can afford less than me......

This happened to us when who applied for child benefit a few years back. The site looked very official and it said there was a £20 admin fee to apply.

We felt so stupid when we realised what kind of website it was after we'd paid it.

I came across his type of website again when we applied for EHIC cards this summer, almost fell for it again but luckily I had learned my lesson.

I hope you get your money back OP!

You are not stupid. These sites are unfortunately legal. I hope you get your money back and by posting it will hopefully stop some others from getting caught out. Good luck!

This is the site - I don't think it's clear.

www.passport-uk.co.uk/

What do you think?

I did the same on 2 passports and lost £60

And I'm tech savvie

I felt a right nana

its got this in big letters:

Services offered by us that the Government site does NOT provide - which implies that it isnt the proper government site

it also has a clicky link on it to take you to the free government website so it isnt hiding anything

Hmm its less clear than the driving licence site I've seen. But the disclaimer at the bottom of every page is fairly clear.

www.gov.uk/renew-adult-passport - free site to renew passport

it also has a clicky link on it to take you to the free government website so it isnt hiding anything

However that link says:

You will incur HM Passport Office fees

Implying that applying via the government site incurs fees that you wouldn't usually pay.

at the bottom of the table of comparisons between the site and the gov site it does say that the admin fee for their service is £69-£99 and that the HMPO admin fee is Free of Charge

Yeah fair enough. Bit hard to see an angle really.

It's not a fraud. These sites are not purporting to be the real sites and taking your money and running. They are taking your money for checking your application. A complete waste of money unless it's a legitimate travel agent doing visas for somewhere like China or Russia where it's sensible to use them.

I doubt very much whether credit card company or small claims court can do anything. You bought a service and were provided with the service.

We live abroad - and we're scammed every time we have to renew passports. Unfortunately, it's official, and allowed.

I could tell immediately this wasn't the official site, but want to bump, because I would be [agnry] if I lost £300.

I wouldn't trust this lot if they can't even copy check CAPital letters on their website!

passportdirect.org.uk/?gclid=CL60laqA6roCFbLJtAodSwsAoQ

im sorry youve been duped, but i dont think it will stand up in court, as its pretty clear on the site that it isnt the official one x

when did you use the site? Could you maybe get out if it under the Distance Selling regulations?

Online, mail and telephone order customers have the right to cancel for a limited time even if the goods are not faulty. Sales of this kind are known as ‘distance selling’.

You must offer a refund to customers who buy through distance selling if they cancel goods within 7 calendar days of receiving them.

You must then refund the customer within 30 days. They don’t have to provide a reason for cancelling.

Oh dear. You still have my sympathy but I don't know how you didn't realise it wasn't the official site. There are 'warnings' quite clearly displayed and it doesn't look like a government site.

In light of that, I wouldn't like your chances of getting any money back.

the site starts with *Welcome to the UK Passport application assistance service
Our service provides you with a virtual passport application service via HM Passport Office. This service exists to assist people who are eligible to complete a passport application online.

We will assist you in the online completion of the necessary application form for HM Passport Office. Once you have completed the easy online form, we will thoroughly analyse and check your application for any oversights or missing information prior to submitting it to HM Passport Office.*
Fairly obviously not the govt site

Its not fraud, or a scam. I'm really sorry but it doesn't look at all like an official government passport site, and is really rather clear on what they do. If you click on "Our Service" it tells you precisely that they are not the actual passport service. There is no logos or insignia that look like the official ones, and they give contact details and addresses that are not government ones.

I'm sorry but I don't see any reason for you to claim your money back.

I'd still try under the distance selling regulations - cant hurt anyway

But from that outake caroldecker I can see where people may believe this company are checking the passport application and sending it off to the official people iyswim. So you could think you pay them and they then pay the hmrc.

It's not how I'd read it but I can see how others might.

My mother got caught out on the same site. She emailed them a complaint and got a full refund. It's worth a try.

The site gives you three options in big bold print. No 3 directs you to the government site. Below this is a comparison of the service provided by this site as opposed to the official one. The last item on this list gives you the cost of the site's service and says the official site is free. Seems pretty clear to me.