Copycat Government websites could face crackdown Ministers will tomorrow face demands to crack down on ‘copycat’ Whitehall websites which charge rip-off fees of up to £1,000 for Government services. The sites are designed to look like official websites but have no link to the Government. They hammer unwitting users with extortionate fees for services such as driving licences, passports, birth certificates and the European health card. Labour MP Chris Evans has called a Commons debate tomorrow morning in a bid to end the rip-off. “Copycat websites are openly and legally tricking people across the country out of their hard-earned money,” he fumed. “While I welcome the Government’s efforts to tackle this, simply not enough is being done.” Citizens Advice received more than 5,000 complaints last year over copycat sites, while the Advertising Standards Authority received 700. The Government has admitted there is a problem and last year the Department for Business handed £130,000 to trading standards officials to investigate a number of sites. Five people were arrested in July under the Fraud Act by the National Trading Standards Board. Mr Evans said: “With reports of these websites operating in increasing numbers and in an increasing number of areas, Ministers must now look again at their strategy to stamp them out. “The current situation is simply not one we can allow to continue.” It comes as peers discuss proposals to ban energy firms and water companies from penalising customers who want paper bills. Tory peer Baroness Oppenheim-Barnes said she was “alarmed” by the way firms are levying charges on hard-pressed customers who do not want to receive their bills in digital form. The practice is seen as unfair on groups such as older pensioners who may not feel comfortable using websites and email, or hard-pressed families without internet connections. The peer has tabled amendments to the Consumer Rights Bill currently passing through the House of Lords. She said: “The move by service provider to online-only bills and, in some cases, charging to issue a paper bill has really alarmed me. “A number of banks are also pushing customers towards online-only. “I would like to see the Consumer Rights Bill amended so consumers have the right to choose how they receive information from service providers - whether that is on paper or online. “That choice should be protected in legislation.” The Mirror
Posted on: Tue, 28 Oct 2014 06:45:53 +0000
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