DVLA fraud

sharminm1992

Hi All, 

So after a stressful week with the kids and at work, I did the naive thing to try and renew my driving licence whilst doing a hundred other things at the same time. I am completely at fault as I didn’t check the website properly. 

So I clicked on the first Website from my google search for renewing driving licence, the website name is UKdriverlicencerenewal (I can’t post the link as I am
a new member)
I filled in the form and paid £79, within 24 hours I was refunded £74.50 and they kept the rest which was admin fee. They refunded me because my passport wasn’t in date which is wrong. My passport is in date and I then realised that the website wasn’t the gov website. I panicked that they have my personal information, I have cancelled my bank card and will be calling action fraud tomorrow to see if I need to change my passport, they have the passport number and my national insurance number.

I was just wondering if anyone else has used this website and can confirm that they are a scam website? I’m feeling very stressed and on edge. 

Please no comments around my stupidity of not checking the website, I have learnt my lesson. 

 

Herzlos

I don't believe it's actually a scam, they just charge you £79 for doing something that you can do for free on the official link.

(generally it's wise to skip the google sponsored ads at the top of any search)

NottinghamKnight

They are not very good scammers if they refund 90% of what you have paid.

sharminm1992

Herzlos said:

I don't believe it's actually a scam, they just charge you £79 for doing something that you can do for free on the official link.

(generally it's wise to skip the google sponsored ads at the top of any search)

I know and I’m so embarrassed as I would normally skip the ads, i was just in a rush and didn’t realise. 

My main concern is that they refunded me without me asking for a refund and they have my personal details. It seems quite odd as the reason behind the refund is that my form was rejected due to my passport not being in date. My passport is in date for four more years! 

sharminm1992

NottinghamKnight said:

They are not very good scammers if they refund 90% of what you have paid.

Im more concerned about them holding my personal data. I didn’t ask for a refund and the reason for the refund is not valid as my passport is in date. 

AdrianC

sharminm1992 said:

So I clicked on the first Website from my google search for renewing driving licence, the website name is UKdriverlicencerenewal

Yes, that's a scam. ALL official government websites are .gov.uk - the correct one for a licence renewal is https://www.gov.uk/renew-driving-licence

It's very likely that your specific scam one has already been taken down, because they pop up and disappear with great frequency. Are they after your details, rather than your money? It's possible. But, tbh, I tend to regard my basic personal information as semi-public these days anyway. My card details have got out? I look at my bank statements. Anything iffy would get flagged to the bank in short order.

Simple prevention... Install an adblocker in your web browser - then you'll simply never see these results. They pay the search engines, and are then flagged in the results as "sponsored posts" - ads, in other words.
First result, with a blocker, is the official gov.uk site.

George_Michael

Was the renewal for the photograph only?
If so, I thought that if a passport was being used for the photo, that passport had to be issued no more than 5 years previously.
If your passport expires in 4 years then it's 6 years old and can't be accepted.
This makes sense to me otherwise when your 10 year old photo on your licence needs renewing, you could update it with a 10 year old passport photograph.