Electronic Travel Authorisation (eta) copy cat/scam website

baglady

Hey MSEr's,

it's been a while since I posted on the forums here.

Just in case any of you are travelling to Canada, although you may not need a visa you need apply for a Electronic Travel Authorisation (Eta) online. You can't get on the flight without it.

Just to warn you that there are copy cat and scam websites.

Here is a cautionary tale....

My mum who is in her late 70's is travelling to Canada today. Sadly she is going for her sister's funeral. She booked her flight online a few weeks and didn't realise she needed an eta until she tried to check in for her flight last night online. Her last visit was about 10 years ago.

I went to see her late last night and she was on her computer saying that she was having difficulty applying for something for her trip to Canada. I helped her and submitted her details and payment. The page had said it was 7 Canadian dollars but as I was about to press submit I notice some tiny wording below that said a fee for authorisation.

She was charged £67.13 which I felt didn't seem right. It was only when I googled about an eta over payment that I realised the website she was on was a third party website that submits an eta application on your behalf. I thought ok she has spent more money than she needed to but if they are submitting it she should get an email confirming everything.

By this morning she had not received any email to confirm if her eta application had been approved.

I went onto the official Canadian website Canada.ca and applied for her eta for the correct fee of only 7 Canadian dollars. Within a few seconds of submitting she got an email confirming that he eta had been approved.

I wasn't with her when she initially found the previous website but she said she had googled "Canada eta" and the website had come up. The website domain name was etaonlinegov.org I had only seen the page where she was submitting her details so had not realised it was a third party website. The fees were not mentioned until payment. I am worried that it is a scam website because she did not receive any notification confirming that her eta was being processed or approved.

She has called the bank to put a stop on the previous transaction but said they can't do anything as the payment is showing pending. She doesn't do online banking so I've asked her to check her balance via a cash point machine every few days to check for any unusual withdrawals

A friend told me that something similar happened to her mum who needed an ESTA for America and ended up paying £100 instead of just the £14 fee.

Pollycat

There's lots of these websites about.

There used to be many for passport application/renewals, driving licence application/renewals, driving test application et etc.

In fact, they still exist for EHIC application/renewal when you Google.

And all sorts of visa applications. Turkey is common and is ESTA as your Mum found out.

"Advantages of requesting an eTA through an agency

etaonlinegov.org aims to assist individuals and legal entities in their efforts to obtain a travel authorization in Canada. This website is not affiliated with the Canadian government. Our help and assistance is available at a cost of $ 80, which includes the immigration service fee of $ 6. You can also apply for your travel authorization via the Canadian Embassy website, but in this case you will not receive the following benefits:"

The website your Mum used does state this in FAQs but it's not prominent.

I think the 'scam' is in duping unwary people to pay more for a 'value-add' service.

It's unfortunate that your Mum has fallen foul of this company, especially in the circumstances, but I doubt they'll be attempting to empty your Mum's bank account.

And yes - these companies are offering ESTAs

MATTR5

Its disgusting that Google keeps promoting these fake/scam sites 

heatherw_01

Unfortunately there are these type of sites for all countries that require some visa or visa replacement such as estas and etas.

You can always find the real sites by checking out our government website https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice as they will usually give you a link to the real site.

Pollycat

MATTR5 said:

Its disgusting that Google keeps promoting these fake/scam sites 

What action do you suggest should be taken?