Beware copycat tax sites

People renewing their tax disc are being warned to ensure that the site they use is the official version. This concern has surfaced after a fake website was found charging people for their tax disc with an additional £40 service fee.

The official DVLA site will make no such charge and motorists are being warned to use the official channels and not to try other sites.

One identified fake website was taxdisc-direct.com. This website had mocked the design of the official site to lull motorists into a false sense of security.

Copycat websites have become more common in recent years and it’s not only tax disc websites being targeted with driving licenses, health insurance cards even tax returns.

The copycat sites will often appear on the first page at the top so they will appear like a genuine site.

Organisations such as the DVLA and Google are working to raise awareness of these sites and ensure that appropriate action is taken when needed.

A spokesman from the DVLA was reported saying, ““The Department for Transport is aware of several websites not connected to DVLA or the official government website that are offering services to customers who are applying for tax discs and driving licences. The Office of Fair Trading has ruled that websites which charge additional fees and services are not acting illegally.

“The Government, led by the Cabinet Office, is taking action to tackle rogue websites and is working with organisations such as the Advertising Standards Authority, the National Trading Standards Board, Which? and search engines, including Google, to raise awareness of this issue and to ensure enforcement action is taken where appropriate.”

Users can protect themselves from the fake websites by heading straight to the official, ‘gov.uk’ site.

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