scam sites!!!! really p me off

G1BB0

G1BB0

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so my naive lad ordered his provisional license online and guess what, its one of them dodgy scam sites that charges to fill the form in basically. Its a google sponsored site so appears at the top of searches. Looking around it seems there are these type of scumbags for everything and anything.

I know he should have checked and used the .gov site but he and it appears a lot of others have fell for the same con. the site is cleverly worded and laid out

I am now in email debate with them and its not going to go away for them I tell thee (although I doubt much will happen grrrr)

I might buy a domain and put a site together just for folk to submit dodgy sites a bit like we do on here, I am on a mission haha.

Anyone here had the misfortune to be suckered online?
 
I nearly got caught out by the same thing when applying for a US visa couple of years ago, as you say they are everywhere.

Wasn't there a mad keen golfer on here that was called G1BBO? Wonder what happened to him.................
 
Don't see how they are scam sites, they clearly state they are an application service. Post Office do the smae thing with your passport application if you ask them to ;)
 
Not sure if your lad has been scammed as such or maybe just didn't realise what he was doing - unfortunate either way. There are many companies that charge for services you could get for cheaper (or free) doing yourself - self assessment taxation for example. And we wouldn't say that accountants are scammers for charging for something you can do yourself. Hopefully it will be a lesson for him to become slightly more cynical about everything which is probably a good trait to have nowadays.
 
When I got a visa for going to China I used one of these application service sites that checked my application was filled in correctly, handed it in at the Chinese embassy in London and returned the approved visa to me. It was an invaluable service as it saved me driving to London, filling in a Chinese application form myself and then queuing at the embassy. And I am kind of guessing this is what this site is doing for people wanting to apply for a provisional license?

I would not class this type of site as a scam sites as to me scam sites take your money and give you either fakes or nothing at all. Fake golf clubs, dodgy Nigerian Princes with 30 million to get out of the country, that kind of thing. I am assuming that they are doing is legal? If not I take it back and they are scammers. But if it is legal then it is a grey area at best. If they are charging to do something that is pretty straight forwards then they are preying on the naive or terminally lazy a bit. If they are charging for saving you a lot of time and hassle then nothing wrong with that.

And anyway, best your naive lad does this and learns a lesson, rather than learning it when he buys golf clubs at half price from www.cheapgolfclubsfromchina.com and wondering why they are fakes when they turn up.;)
 
Looking on the web sites I suspect you are talking about it states clearly that

We are not affiliated with DVLA, the UK government or any official body. The checking service we provide can be obtained from a DVLA office directly at a reduced fee or you can apply without a checking service where there will be no checking fee payable.

Please note we are a private company that is not affiliated with the DVLA nor the DVLA-run site, where licence applications, renewals and exchanges are processed free of charge. By clicking below, you will be redirected to the DVLA website and will no longer benefit from our 24/7 customer support services.

So I am struggling to see how it is a scam as it's pretty clear what they do?
 
Fools and their money.

Government organisation, .gov.uk URL...simple really. You want the DVLA..Type DVLA.gov.uk.

There will be plenty of sites also which tell people what are scams/rip offs. But the people who NEED this help will also not know to go to the site/look for a site to help them.
 
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