Driving licence replacement scam!

SkippyP1995

I foolishly got caught yesterday on a website that looks like DVLA! Unfortunately even though I searched the web given by DVLA this one came up top, I didn’t notice the ad part! So they’ve charged me £94 for their chewing service and you have to provide driving licence and passport details to renew the licence! Their email is drivinglicenceassistance.co.uk but I cannot find a website. Has anyone else done this? If so what advice can you give me to fix it?. 

SkippyP1995

Sorry that should say checking service….

oh_really

Is this it https://drivervehiclelicencing.co.uk  If so their charge is clearly listed on their home page.

user1977

Or perhaps this one:

https://licenseassistance.uk/

(the fact they can't spell "licence" ought to have been a big enough clue!)

SkippyP1995

No, it was www.vehicleonlineservices.co.uk and I was hoping for some advice rather than criticism! 

JamoLew

advice is to read what you are signing for

Hasbeen

SkippyP1995 said:

I foolishly got caught yesterday on a website that looks like DVLA! Unfortunately even though I searched the web given by DVLA this one came up top, I didn’t notice the ad part! So they’ve charged me £94 for their chewing service and you have to provide driving licence and passport details to renew the licence! Their email is drivinglicenceassistance.co.uk but I cannot find a website. Has anyone else done this? If so what advice can you give me to fix it?. 

If you can give the exact site address someone can look into it for you.

But it is not a scam as these sites display quite prominately the charges.

But they do catch the unwary and others who tend to miss what is onscreen


DVLA give you an exact address to type in. You do not have to search the web for  

Do not send them anything.

Call them now and cancel.

You may get an amount back if you can.

The_Fat_Controller

If dealing with such matters, make sure it's a GOV.UK web address.

Do not click on search results that have Ad next to them as does the site you used.

You have learnt an expensive lesson.

AdrianC

SkippyP1995 said:

No, it was www.vehicleonlineservices.co.uk and I was hoping for some advice rather than criticism! 

The grey header bar at the top of that page says "We are in no way affiliated with the government of the United Kingdom or the DVLA . We are a third party processing agency that charges a service fee for additional benefits."

Just below the "Apply now" button, it says...

"Our Services

Licence Services offers a turnkey solution to assist you with your Driving Licence applications, to keep your Licence protected, to assist you on any Driving Legal issue and to benefit of exclusive discounts on many car-related products and services.

We only charge £80 for our services for a full year: no subscription, no hidden cost; and are detailed below:"

You are getting exactly what they described before you went through six pages of forms to get to the payment.

The bottom of every single one of those pages carries that same affiliation disclaimer.

The advice we will give you will be the same as we give everybody else who falls for these scams...
(One most weeks, just posting here)

READ WHAT YOU'RE SIGNING UP FOR.
Learn to use your web browser.
Install an adblocker.

ontheroad1970

The site is very clear about charges and what it charges for.  Box in top right.  Unlike some similar websites it's also completely different layout font and colour to the org site from DVLA.

SkippyP1995

Thank you all. I’ve definitely leant a hard lesson! Do you know if they are likely to use my personal data? As in identity fraud?