migrationexpert.com ESTA Scam

MinMoz

My dad just applied for his ESTA for travelling to the US through migrationexpert.com and it's a scam. Cost $118 rather than the correct charge of $28 for two people.

Have tried to cancel through their site but despite directing you to an area of their site where you can do this there is no option available.

Bit of a sickener as its the first time he has trusted the internet to pay for something - looks like it will be the last!!

Just posting in a bid to help reduce the risk of this happening to someone else.

Indout96

Its a rip off but NOT a scam, it will say on their site that there is a charge for what (very little) they do. There are lots of these companies out there.
Been quite a few threads on here about them.
Sorry to hear someone else fall for it but the best you can do is put it behind you I'm afraid.

MinMoz

its a bit of a swindle giving them a quick profit for doing nothing - I stand by the description of it being a scam.

Agree though, he should put it down to experience.

George_Michael

On the main page of the website, directly below the box that you tick to state that you have read the T&C's is this statement:

Migration Expert is a private Immigration firm & is not affiliated with the US Government. If you do not wish to take advantage of the many benefits of applying for an ESTA with us, you can make your application to the US Government for $14USD.

It is not in smaller or fainter writing than anything else and it even gives a link to go directly to the US gov ESTA website.

I stand by the description of it being a scam.

How can it be a scam if they clearly state what is shown above?

MinMoz

It was not myself who accessed the site - it was an inexperienced internet user who thought they were going directly to the ESTA site.

I posted this in a bid to try to stop others from doing this in future.

photome

MinMoz wrote: »

It was not myself who accessed the site - it was an inexperienced internet user who thought they were going directly to the ESTA site.

I posted this in a bid to try to stop others from doing this in future.

Thats good but it probably wont stop people being caught out in future.

its not a scam as it clearly states the charges, but it is sickening ,maybe an inexperienced internet user could do with a little help from friends and family

shaun_from_Africa

maybe an inexperienced internet user could do with a little help from friends and family

I totally agree with this comment.
The internet can be a minefield for inexperienced users whether they are 17 or 70 years old, and although it's easy to lose out financially by not reading all of the info posted on some sites, the info is normally there provided you take time to read everything and you have been advised of the possible pitfalls.

MinMoz

Interesting that the majority of responses have centred around my use of the word scam.

Indicative of the pedantic approach often adopted within the forums of this site I think.

photome

MinMoz wrote: »

Interesting that the majority of responses have centred around my use of the word scam.

Indicative of the pedantic approach often adopted within the forums of this site I think.

Should all the replys agree with you?

How is it a scam when the price of the service is clear to see before you use it?

As i said its sickening to have been caught but it is a free market out there

agrinnall

No, it's indicative of the number of people who use the word scam inapproprately, particularly in thread titles where it's just an attention grabber. Any time I see words such as scam, stole, ripped-off, etc., I know there's a fair chance when I read the thread that it won't be any such thing.

If it was only used when it actually refers to a scam then there wouldn't be any comments about it.

kipperman

MinMoz wrote: »

Interesting that the majority of responses have centred around my use of the word scam.

Indicative of the pedantic approach often adopted within the forums of this site I think.

I'm with you. I'm not going to debate whether it is a "scam" or not, but it's certainly designed to deceive and extract money for little or no perceived benefit over the official ESTA site.