GHIC Scammer Sites

TELLIT01

If people are aware enough of the problem to go searching for a site listing scam sites, surely they would be aware enough only to use government sites in the first place.

onashoestring

There is a difference between a lookalike website and a scam one .

A lookalike website does provide the service , but charges you for something that you can get free . This isn’t illegal . MSE does warn about these websites . 

A scam is an illegal site - including one that is set up to obtaining your personal or financial information to use these details maliciously. 

If you are concerned about a website being a scam you can report it to the National Crime Security Centre (NCSC) and it will be investigated.

https://www.ncsc.gov.uk/section/about-this-website/report-scam-website

Pollycat

onashoestring said:

There is a difference between a lookalike website and a scam one .

A lookalike website does provide the service , but charges you for something that you can get free . This isn’t illegal . MSE does warn about these websites . 

A scam is an illegal site - including one that is set up to obtaining your personal or financial information to use these details maliciously. 

If you are concerned about a website being a scam you can report it to the National Crime Security Centre (NCSC) and it will be investigated.

https://www.ncsc.gov.uk/section/about-this-website/report-scam-website

The website the OP looked at is a 'lookalike' website.
On the right hand side is an 'important' notice with a disclaimer that it is not the official website.

The OP says in the thread title that it is a 'scammer' website.
It isn't.

Even Martin Lewis says they are not scam sites (from the link to the BBC article in my post on page 1)::

"They are not scams, they're shysters," said Martin Lewis, founder of the website Money Saving Expert.

"They're not stealing your money, they're charging you a fee for something that is completely pointless."

NoodleDoodleMan

Whenever a fee comes into play - you know to avoid and find the legitimate site.

Pollycat

NoodleDoodleMan said:

Whenever a fee comes into play - you know to avoid and find the legitimate site.

Not necessarily
The GHIC is free.

However, some things do have an official fee, for example to obtain an ESTA (Electronic System for Travel Authorization) the official fee is $21.00 USD.
One shyster website (not scam website according to Martin Lewis) that charges an extra fee says:

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security charges $ 21 per person to apply for an ESTA.

This ESTA fee is not per entry but per application, and there is no discount for children, students, or retirees. Unfortunately, if your application is denied, you will only get a partial refund - unless you submitted your ESTA application through esta-application.com.

In addition to the convenient ESTA services, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security fee is already included in the esta-application.com rates starting at €49.90. Our money-back guarantee protects you in the unlikely event of rejection despite all the precautions taken by the ESTA experts from The American Dream.

ESTA Visa | Official travel authorization for the USA (esta-application.com)

So you actually need to know if something is free and if not, what the official charge is.

Then you'll know to avoid any websites that charge more than the official fee rather than avoid websites that charge a fee.

These are some listed in the BBC article:

Every time, there were adverts for expensive third-party services when searching for:

• Esta - fee $21.00 USD
• US Esta
• apply for Esta
• US visa
• Canada ETA (a travel document for Canada)
• apply for Canada ETA
• apply for Canada visa
• apply for Australia visa
• apply driving licence  - online fee £34.00
• renew driving licence - online fee £14.00 (over 70s excepted)
• driving licence change address - free

I'd be surprised if there wasn't a fee for Canada & Australia travel documentation.

And of course, passport applications - which were part of this shyster business quite a few years ago - have an official cost.

You just need to be wary and know the official fee (if there is one) and make sure you are on the official website.

NoodleDoodleMan

Yes, I should have been more specific - if you suspect a dodgy site and there is a fee - time to check out if there is a official one.

We visited Alcatraz (great trip) a few years back - that was where I realised that there were alternative tour outfits, not linked to the US National Park Service and offered more expensive visits - simply by purchasing official tickets and lumping on their own fee.