Having done this a fair few times over the last 15 years it would appear that in my diminished post flu state I have been caught out.
I applied via what I thought was the correct US Govt. website only to find the cost came back as $85 - this started the alarm bells ringing and looking into it I have applied via a third party company who check your application and then submit it.
Whilst all is well and the ESTA's have been issued - it has cost me an additional $71 per application.
The website looked almost identical to the US Visa site - be careful folks.
I am not best pleased.....
When you look long into an abyss, the abyss looks long into you.........
Did alarm bells not ring when you confirm the amount when submitting your CC details?
Bogus websites for ESTA have been well publicised in many parts of the media. I certainly double checked when I did the families last year.
As always Caveat Empor.
That said, I do feel for you a bit, and this crap also p1sses me off. And if it helps someone else then that’s good.
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To be fair, we all like to think we are worldly wise .
I was caught out by the CSCS system , website made to look like the governments official one etc. etc.
It's good to highlight it every now and again , and its commendable when you've just been conned yourself.
Thought I had - been running on 3 cylinders for a few days and for once I got caught.Originally Posted by noTAGlove
$hit happens.
When you look long into an abyss, the abyss looks long into you.........
Can imagine.. May be it's a good idea to mention it with words 'warning' and 'scam' so it would be picked up by google?
Fas est ab hoste doceri
And listing the correct address might help too. I think it is: https://esta.cbp.dhs.gov/esta/application.html
Many others have also been caught out. One of my friends (whom I went to the USA with in 2011), and goes there regularly was caught out last year. Same problem with applications for the Indian Visas.
The website for Vietnamese visas is that dodgy that you think it's a scam one when in fact it's the legitimate one!
There are some real shysters out there.
Funnily enough someone I know has booked a holiday in the States this summer and one of the first things I said was watch out for this scam.
As Shaw Taylor used to say ‘Keep ‘em peeled!”
Check out the Indian one. It's so bad it just has to be real.
https://indianvisaonline.gov.in/evisa/tvoa.html
Wounder
These kind of sites should be banned
My approach is to avoid going in from a search engine or a URL that can be mis-typed and start your journey from http://www.usa.gov and follow links from there. Possibly not completely foolproof (never underestimate the ingenuity etc.) but fairly reliable.
In the Sotadic Zone, apparently.
This may be a silly question but could you have just not paid and closed the application/Web page and applied via the correct site? But then again recovering after a bout of sickness must not have helped matters.
I have not been to USA and so do not have a clue on this matter but something I will need to know as one day the kids will want to go Disneyland.
Of course you could. Suppose problem is people not realising what real price is.
Did ours last week and I remembered from my previous application it took some sifting to find the correct site, so as usual I ignored all the sponsored (top) links. I think it was $12 per application which is up from the no charge it used to be!
Call me cynical but my view is that people simply don't pay enough attention to the address that they are visiting!
A great many scams would be avoided if people simply paid attention (illness aside ;-) ).
I believe people occassionally get caught out with the Australian visas also.
The correct website for those is http://www.homeaffairs.gov.au/Trav/Visa/Immi
Always makes me laugh as calling it Immi as a contraction of immigration is just so aussie.
Anywhere you need a Visa really.
Took me a while to find the correct site for Russia.
M.
A good starting point is https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice which has links for visa applications for most countries.
Yes, but in Russia the visa regime is a government-sponsored racket.
In the Sotadic Zone, apparently.
Maybe, but there are still plenty of people willing to take a bit more on top!
M.
I wasn't suggesting that the two are mutually exclusive.
In the Sotadic Zone, apparently.
even the link in BA.com in your booking reminding you to get an ESTA is to a third party that charges you more... .
My travel agent does them for free if you buy the holdiday off them...
Google visa's, driving licence renewal, passport, European health card and on and on and you will get "third party" sites looking for your money just take your time and scroll down the page till you get the official site.
Health/wealth warning do not renew or apply whilst under the influence of alcohol, sleep deprivation or stimulents
Usually I`d agree, but this can happen to the best of us! Chris isn`t daft, if he can get caught out I`m sure a lot more of us can.
I almost got caught on a scam computer support site when my e-mail was playing up, thought I was talking to BT but I wasn't.
Paul
Serious dead thread revival - SC per chance?
But, it did make me realise I hadn't seen Mark London on here recently. I hope he's OK.
Mine ran out in January so must get mine done for Oct, timely reminder to watch out
Not enough attention to the website they're visiting? Surely the price would have been a clear giveaway at the point of payment. Or does it purport that you're only paying £14 a pop at the checkout?
Either way, not a fun premium to find your you've paid.
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