I’ve just been scammed by a ‘processing’ site known as directgovuk.net that has the exact same look and feel as the old official government site direct.gov.uk (where you buy tax discs online).
They come up ahead of the official site in a Google search, and like I said, have the exact same look and feel of the official site.
They levy charges on all transactions regarding any (even normally free) DVLA transactions.
They have just stung me £40 on top of the cost of 6 months motorcycle road tax.
They only refund £8 of their ‘processing’ charge if they have already processed the payment for using their ‘service’.
This is all apparently legal because they put a small disclaimer that they are a processing company in their Google search result and possibly somewhere on their web page.
I doubt there is any way to get my money back, but this is just a heads up to be careful when renewing your tax disc, or have any DVLA interaction online. Especially if you trust Google to give you a genuine site from your search results…
i wanted to have a look at the site but my isp (virgin media) has already blocked it 
they must have a registered address at companies house?
post them some poo.
I’ve just called my bank First Direct (HSBC) and they say to call tomorrow and speak to their direct debit disputes team.
I also wrote a report to Watchdog and I’m just now going to complain to Google.
Can we add anymore than you are stupid?
I think gullible rather than stupid. These type of sites pretend they are official - and then charge you for basically doing nothing. There are tax return sites that do the same - you enter your data - plus a fee - and they enter the same info into the official site.
Afro has been scammed - and yeah - it is legal.
This is shitehawk… I nearly used them (or someone like them) because you type “DVLA Tax Disc” or whatever into google and they come out top and LOOK official…
Basically any online govt service can be scammed in this way and you end up paying twice as much - TV licence online is the same… Should be banned as a sharp practice grrrr
These sites have been around for years, and they are well documented and reported on by various news programs on BBC TV & Radio.
The website for the tax disks is on the letter you receive.
I don’t quite understand why so may people expect Google to be some kind of internet police?
They’re a search engine. You search for sites that let you get a tax disc, they will give you them. It’s been stated it’s not illegal, so we’re asking Google to perform censorship on legal websites? Normally people would be up in arms about such a request?
They are on here :Whistling:
The difference of them giving you money, and the other company giving Google money.
Afro, how did you pay?
Credit Card or Debit Card?
I’ve been scammed too. I went to Waitrose. It looked and felt like a Sainsburys, and they sold the same stuff, right? But when I got the bill it was about 50% more expensive than the equivalent shop in Sainsburys…
Yeah, that’s bollocks, but its about the same type of fury. You went somewhere, the price was clearly advertised, you paid more for something that you could have got cheaper elsewhere. Sorry, but I have little sympathy, especially when your reminder tells you exactly how much you should be paying for your tax disc anyway. You have failed to do your consumer research and got stung for it.
For another example, some Honda main dealers are charging full retail price for their bikes, whereas others you can get £2k off. Are the main dealers charging full whack immoral? Didn’t think so.
Plus this is very well known. Moral of the story, check carefully before you sign over your credit card details.
Ignore what MuppetZilla wrote above. This is fundamentally a scam, but unfortunately legal. Your indignation is correct and should not be made fun of. These people are cheating honest folks out of money that they should not be allowed to.
Maybe time to open an e-petition. You need to be very careful with the wording – http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/60478 is an example of one that was rejected because “Allegations of fraud are an operational policing matter”. Don’t make allegations, just petition for the law to be tightened to make these scams (not frauds) harder to perpetrate.
-simon
http://www.theguardian.com/money/2014/mar/04/crackdown-copycat-government-websites-passport-application-tax-return
What I don’t understand, is why this isn’t a criminal offence? Deception being a crime is it not? Fraud?
Anyhow - some reading for those interested in these toe-rags.
I thought this would be covered by the law of “Passing Off”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Passing_off
But apparently not, for reasons I don’t understand
Unfortunately it was a debit card.
I’ve been on to the bank and they say I have to give the company 15 days to deliver the ‘service’.
So I just have to wait.
Cheers and yeah agreed.
I don’t know how the government don’t act on sites that purport to be official.
Thanks for posting that.
I’ll give that a read.
