UK-passport.net

Blackbeard_of_Perranporth

The question asked is

196N
Mr David Davis (Haltemprice and Howden): To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent assessment she has made of the prevalence of copycat websites for passport applications and renewals; what estimate she has made of the costs to consumers of using such websites; and what steps she is taking to inform the public about such websites. !! ! ! (183165)

Is asking about informing the public about such sites, not about their legal status. Other questions were about Tax Returns and Driving Licences.

From this, then we can assume their existence will continue.

I assume OP lead a merry path for us earlier, and did not want to go into detail.

hpuse

Ah ! I missed something, its my fault !

Step 3: read and interpret result
Means, Step 3: read and interpret results in context of this thread

Really senior members shouldn't be hearing this pointed out ;-)

Blackbeard_of_Perranporth

hpuse wrote: »

Ah ! I missed something, its my fault !

Step 3: read and interpret result
Means, Step 3: read and interpret results in context of this thread

Really senior members shouldn't be hearing this pointed out ;-)

And where in all this does it change the legality of the sites.

Where does it enable people to get their money back

The question asked was

196N
Mr David Davis (Haltemprice and Howden): To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent assessment she has made of the prevalence of copycat websites for passport applications and renewals; what estimate she has made of the costs to consumers of using such websites; and what steps she is taking to inform the public about such websites. !! ! ! (183165)


What steps she is taking to inform the public about such websites

This does not go any way to change these sites status, nor stop people going to them

Nor does it get people a refund for a service that immediately starts.

Now, hope you had a good half term, and do not forget your satchel on Monday

dminett

I sent £72.50 to UK passport .net thinking I was paying for a passport for an 80 year old friend.
The forms came back but my £72.50 DID NOT. Does anyone have any ideas how I can recover the money from this scam?
How can these sites be closed down or at least be made obvious that they are requesting money?
A clever scam!

bod1467

Have you checked the T&Cs of that company for a refund policy?

Pollycat

Check out their website details re refunds:

It says this:

Terms of Business

Cancellation/Refund Policy
We charge a service fee of £72.50 for completing the online passport application process.
You may cancel your application for our service at any time up until we have processed your application and completed our service.
If you cancel before we have processed your application, we will issue a full refund.
If the application has been processed we will refund the full payment less a £8.00 administration fee
If you wish to exercise your right to cancel, please contact us in writing (email is best), as follows:
We are more than happy to issue a refund, but we can only issue refunds direct to your bank account. Please supply the following information:
Bank Account Number
Sort Code
Order ID
This information MUST be sent by: < click here to fill the the refund form >

Some of these websites have been investigated and found to be operating within the law.
Some have been ordered to amend their websites to make it clear that they are not the official website.

If you believe the website you used was misleading, report them to Trading standards (through CAB):
http://www.tradingstandards.gov.uk/advice/index.cfm

Also maybe contact your local MP.

Actually, as far as this goes

dminett wrote: »

How can these sites be closed down or at least be made obvious that they are requesting money?

that particular website seems to make it pretty clear that it isn't the official website:

Disclaimer:
Our service is not connected to or affiliated with the Passport Office or any UK Government department. Our service fee is set out in our terms and conditions and is payable on completion of the form on this website, but you will not be required to pay the passport application fee until you receive and return the printed copy of your application from IPS. The information on this website may also be available without charge from other sources.
Our Service fee are as following:

• an adult passport costs £72.50
• a child passport costs £46.00

Beware when applying for all sorts of things, including:
applying for/renewing driving licence
applying for/renewing EHIC
ESTA
booking driving test
booking driving theory test
submitting tax return

plus more as they think of them.

Interestingly, when I Googled 'UK Passport', the official website (www.Gov.uk) was the top 7 hits listed with The Post Office 8th so it looks like some action has been taken to protect the unwary.

bod1467

Are you seeing the inline/featured Google ads at the top of the results? (I don't as I have unchecked the option to Allow some non-intrusive advertising in Adblock Plus).

Sayaka

Indeed, the ads seem to have disappeared from the UK passport rankings! Perhaps Google has done something about it at last.

Valli

bod1467 wrote: »

Are you seeing the inline/featured Google ads at the top of the results? (I don't as I have unchecked the option to Allow some non-intrusive advertising in Adblock Plus).

I don't use adblock - but I am not seeing any sponsored links at the moment (for clone sites) - I've googled various search terms all of which have, in the past, thrown up links for clone sites!

imoneyop

Valli wrote: »

I don't use adblock - but I am not seeing any sponsored links at the moment (for clone sites) - I've googled various search terms all of which have, in the past, thrown up links for clone sites!

Same here and for driving licence renewal.