Dartford Crossing Scam

baser999

Personally, whether right or not, I’d contact the official Dartford Crossing people and explain that you paid who you thought were the proper people but realise now that you’ve been scammed; you’ll not have been the first, the crossing company will be aware of the unofficial sites. They may just request you pay the normal charge. On the other hand they might say ‘another one trying the unofficial site payment excuse’ and enforce the charge and penalties.

Coupon-mad

baser999 said:

Personally, whether right or not, I’d contact the official Dartford Crossing people and explain that you paid who you thought were the proper people but realise now that you’ve been scammed; you’ll not have been the first, the crossing company will be aware of the unofficial sites. They may just request you pay the normal charge. On the other hand they might say ‘another one trying the unofficial site payment excuse’ and enforce the charge and penalties.

I think we are all in agreement. 

Suzy_1

Half_way said:

The name of the forum was recently debated, and while it primarily deals with private charges , it can assist with others either directly or by way of a referral.

 The overall name does help as it acts as a hook to bring people to help .

As for the Dart charge...

 For a first time mistake they have a record of being helpful ( as opposed to how the private parking world works)

The crossing itself is badly signed especially if you dont know about it, and or have never had the misfortune to drive in an area such as a congestion charge where the red C signs are unfamiliar - lets face it there are plenty of odd signs around some of which are not for the general motorist, but maintenance teams/rescue teams etc.

 The Signs stating Dart charge visit us online before midnight tomorrow are also / can be confusing for those who are making the exciting trip over the bridge, or through the tunnels for the first time ( odds on those first timers will be travelling south over the bridge as opposed to north through one of the tunnels and sitting in traffic from Kent/Essex )

 One thing i have noticed in the last few years though is a sign with the charges on

So advice would be to get in touch with them, provide evidence that you did pay ( receipts emails etc) all be it unknowingly to a scam site and if its a first time they should let you off, although you may need to pay the £2.50 per crossing fee.

There are a lot of fake government websites out there that will either charge you for what should be a free service, or overcharge you - always check before taking the plunge see how much it should cost or if there is a charge , search engine sites can be fooled into showing fake sites some of which will do worse than rip you oiff.

a government site will have dot gov dot uk in the address, sometimes followed by a /

For example this is the REAL dart charge site https://www.gov.uk/pay-dartford-crossing-charge where you can see the dot gov dot uk in the address followed by a slash

This is a FAKE CON dart charge site ( active at time of posting) https://www.dartfordcrossingcharges.co.uk/  No dot gov dot UK

 the real site charges £2.50 the fake one in this case charges £4.00

 the payment for the fake site goes to a card handler called stripe, who are legit, and may be able to ehlp get the fake site shut off - only problem is once one scam site goes another soon pops up

Thank you. I think that might have been the website I’ve clicked on. 😔 

Suzy_1

baser999 said:

Personally, whether right or not, I’d contact the official Dartford Crossing people and explain that you paid who you thought were the proper people but realise now that you’ve been scammed; you’ll not have been the first, the crossing company will be aware of the unofficial sites. They may just request you pay the normal charge. On the other hand they might say ‘another one trying the unofficial site payment excuse’ and enforce the charge and penalties.

Hi @baser999

I have an invoice from the fake website that should confirm that it’s not an excuse but I’ve fallen victim to scammers. 

I’ve filled in legitimate website’s representation form on gov uk and sent them that invoice, my bank statement etc. explaining that I’ve paid for it. 

I’m hoping they understand and cancel the penalty. 

Do you think I should still ring them? 

Thanks 

Fruitcake

Ringing the genuine company won't hurt, but you need to follow it up with an email to confirm what was said.

You should point out that the genuine company have failed to exercise a duty of car in ensuring that fake sites can't take your money. I believe they have the power and ability to get fake sites taken down.

You should also get your MP involved with this scam.

Please also warn others by posting on the Praise, Vent, and Warnings thread.

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/categories/praise-vent-warnings