Beware EHIC scam

eeyores61

This is probably old news but my son was taken in and paid £10 to a website to renew his EHIC card. There is a vague reference in small print that they were acting on behalf etc but this is the link you need to get a FREE EHIC.

https://www.ehic.org.uk/Internet/home.do

I am extremely concerned that the site has his date of birth, National Insurance number etc. It's going to be easy to steal his identity if they choose to.:(

whatyadoinsucka

its only the same as the many companies who offer visa for countries for a fee.
I was advised to pay £20-£30 for an Australian visa by a travel agent.
instead i went on the web and got a visa direct FOC

Pollycat

Also discussed here:

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/1176075

Looking at the link you gave, it says this on the first page:

Applying For A Card

The quickest way to receive your EHIC, free of charge, is to apply on this website by clicking on the 'Apply Now' link below.

So at what point did it ask your son for payment details?

Some websites are up-front about charging for EHIC cards, I've seen wording like:

IMPORTANT: This website is not connected to or affiliated with the National Health Service, the Department of Health, the NHSBSA or any other official Government body. You can apply independently and free of charge for EHIC by visiting the official website which can be found here. MTS Administration is an unofficial third-party data processor for EHIC applications.

Imho, this isn't a scam as they point out you can get it free from another source.

However, if the website said FOC and then charged I do indeed think it's a scam and I would report them to Trading Standards.

fifer27

Can't believe I've just been caught by one of these sites too (e111-nhs.org) DO NOT USE, £14.99 EACH - OUCH how stupid do I feel right now. didnt read the T&C's thought it was a genuine sight due to the name

MrMelons

I manage to stop these scamming mofos from applying for my card which means they havent charged me (yet).

I am the type of person who reads everything usually, but was in a rush as most people who fall for this seem to be.

Anyway, as soon as I realised and after trying to ring my bank to cancel the transaction (which they cannot do) I applied for the renewal from the legit site.

Anyway, the next day i received an email for the sam site saying that i already had a card and they couldnt apply for a new one until it expired.

Give it a go! I will let you know if they do eventually charge me, which i hope they wont.

MrMelons

If anyone stumbles across this post, I would just like to say this did not work. I was still charged.

No response to emails, no refund despite them not providing a service. definitely a scam.

mrshassall1987

Nearly fell for this last week, it was the first one that came up on google! Very annoying :mad:

Linus2864

I must be missing something here. How are people getting to these pay sites??

I just did a Google search for "EHIC" for my parents to make sure they don't get taken in, and the top two results were links to the official EHIC site stating that the card is free. The next three were NHS links with DirectGov, the FCO and Wikipedia following close behind.

The first "dodgy" link was in ninth place. Are the links being e-mailed out as spam, or are people following links via third party sites?

Dolphin10

I got caught with this last week! When I put EHIC into Google the top three matches (I now realise) were all scams. I was in a hurry and went for nhsehic.org.uk. I gave them my details and they took my money and that was that.

I rang the EHIC helpline today and have now ordered the card by phone (I hope!). But I've lost £14.50 and given lots of personal details to some scam, which I'm a bit worried about. I feel really annoyed with myself, especially as I like to think I'm careful....

scottishperson2

Dolphin10 wrote: »

the top three matches (I now realise) were all scams.

It wasn't a scam. You may feel you have been ripped off, but thats a different matter altogether.

These sites (usually) clearly state, ON THE FIRST PAGE, and I quote from the one you applied with

The application verification services provided by this web site incur a small administrative charge – you can apply for a card directly from the NHSBA without charge. Standard applications are normally processed within 3 working days.

Thats the 3rd paragraph down.

Dolphin10

Yes you are right, it is just a rip off, as my EHIC card arrived the day after I posted my comments above. And today the one I ordered via the helpline arrived, so now I have two. They've got different numbers and expire a week apart, but they're otherwise identical.

The woman I spoke to on the helpline assured me my first application hadn't been processed, which was why I thought the website was a scam. She was obviously wrong though as it turned out the first card was in the post by then. Hmmm.... Oh well, better two than none!