SCAM ALLERT! European Health Insurance Card

EmmaginaryC

Good evening
I thought this needs to be bought to the attention of everyone.

*** as a new user, I was unable to post links, so when viewing these, take out the spaces by full stops.

There is a website charging an administration fee of £23.50 for a European Health Insurance Card-this is the address:

www. europeanhealthcard. org. uk

To my understanding, this card is supposed to be free, and I think it's wrong they have charged an admin fee, when the following site doesn't do that:

www. ehic.org .uk/Internet/startApplication. do

I think people need to be aware that they needn't be charged for this at all, and that they don't lost £23.50 like I unfortunately just did. I phoned up my bank to try and cancel the transaction, but was unable to do so, and I was unable to call the company I ordered the card from either I'm hoping it will work out for me and I can get the money back, but just don't want anyone else to fall victim for this scam, as I feel I have unnecessarily been conned out of £23.50.

Kind regards
Emma

Obviously_the_best

Yes, there's hundreds of these websites about, Martin keeps trying to raise awareness about these but so many people still seem to be getting caught out.

phatbear

its ashame theres no warning on their site of their admin fee...................

oh hang on! from their websites front page:

1. Using Our Service

The European Health Insurance Card can be applied for from your home using our Website. We will ensure that any errors or missing elements are taken care of before forwarding your application to the National Health Services Business Services Authority (NHSBSA). A standard application will take three working days to get processed and a charge of £23.50 will be levied per application. The card is usually delivered to you within the next ten working days.

EmmaginaryC

Wow! These last two replies are a little harsh.

Obviously, I didn't know this card was available for free, and I got caught out, therefore I was warning people as naive as me that this is around so the same thing doesn't happen to them.

Have a nice day.

(OTB, thanks for being nice)

mcfisco

It never hurts to keep warning people about it

If everyone knew, these [strike]services[/strike] scams wouldn't exist any more.

phatbear

EmmaginaryC wrote: »

Wow! These last two replies are a little harsh.

Harsh seems to equal factual.

Thing is it is quite clearly there on the front page about the charge for their service.

Oh and it also mentions that the card is free, again on their front page.

GA2012

Usually extra cautious and suspicious, I am reeling after falling for the bogus website trick and giving my and partner`s details to a bogus European Health Card bogus site. I realised and stopped at point of payment and I didn't actually press any `submit` buttons. However, the software has obviously been designed to collect info en route. I have received two emails confirming my `order` and asking for payment so far. It also asks you to phone their advice line. This site has `nhs` in title and comes up on a DWP search in Google. Very concerned about the personal information going to potential identity fraudsters.

Voyager2002

GA2012 wrote: »

Usually extra cautious and suspicious, I am reeling after falling for the bogus website trick and giving my and partner`s details to a bogus European Health Card bogus site. I realised and stopped at point of payment and I didn't actually press any `submit` buttons. However, the software has obviously been designed to collect info en route. I have received two emails confirming my `order` and asking for payment so far. It also asks you to phone their advice line. This site has `nhs` in title and comes up on a DWP search in Google. Very concerned about the personal information going to potential identity fraudsters.

Well done for not pressing "submit". If they attempt to take payment from your cards, contact the issuer to prevent this.

And I would not worry so much about identity fraud: these sites are legal (just about) and operate a different racket from identity fraud.

HarryS

I am such an idiot! :mad: I have fallen for this and feel sick to my stomach for doing so. I am normally so careful but got sucked in.

I don't even need to use it - I am not going anywhere - just sorting my files and realised ours were out of date!!

My mind said - these used to be free, how strange, but to be honest it looked so much like a government site I did not query it further. I am so cross with myself.

Is there anything I can do to get my money back or do I put it down to just being stupid and take the hit?

Any advice appreciated. H

agrinnall

I believe some of these providers will refund if asked, so it's certainly worth trying. Unfortunately there's little chance of any other course of action being successful as they have (presumably) supplied what you paid for.

Pollycat

agrinnall wrote: »

I believe some of these providers will refund if asked, so it's certainly worth trying.

Yes, it's worth a try for a refund but you need to follow the instructions on the website.

if they say to email, then do that, don't ring them.
Some people ring their bank, cancel their cards, run around like headless chickens etc when if they'd bothered to read the website, they would have found that they could get a refund simply by contacting the company in the right way.

Worth pointing out that it's not just EHIC:
passport renewal, ESTA, booking driving tests (and probably more) are all prone to these 'official-looking' websites.