Have you ever heard of a shyster website?
If you Google it, the dictionary reads ‘a person, especially a lawyer, who uses unscrupulous, fraudulent, or deceptive methods in business.’
Gosh, if I was a lawyer I would be quite put out by that description!
Shysters come in all forms, (not just lawyers – rest assured, there are hundreds of very honest lawyers in the world), and we have discovered that they are now targeting every driver up and down the country.
But how? Well, the DVLA has recently issued a warning, since discovering several websites that are being set up by these shysters, asking drivers to pay for services that are free of charge on the DVLA website.
Unfortunately, it is too late for thousands of motorists who have already been caught out. Over 1,200 drivers have contacted the DVLA to raise the issue over the last 18 months – who knows how many more have been conned? Therefore, we have written this blog now because we want to highlight the problem to protect thousands more from being duped in the future.
The official DVLA website offers many services free of charge or for a small fee, such as changing the address on your licence, renewing a licence, assisting with V5C vehicle registration certificates or updating your car’s logbook for if/when you move house.
The shyster websites are offering all of these services too, and while it is not illegal (we are not certain why, but sure you will agree that it should be), they charge unnecessary fees and increased prices too, well, basically line their own pockets.
Say for example, the DVLA website charges £14 to renew a driving licence, these other sites can charge up to £60, awful, isn’t it?
We know what you’re thinking – surely if you wanted to change anything to do with your car, licence or registration etc, you would just go straight to the DVLA pages, right? The problem is that the shyster websites look so professional and legitimate that they trick you into believing that they are there to offer their services to take the hassle of all the administration away from you. Many people lead busy lives these days, there are probably several other websites that manage other areas of life admin (and if not, there’s a gap in the market that needs filling!)
They use clever tricks to appear higher on internet searches; say for example, if you Googled ‘renew my driving licence’. Once you are on these websites, they will ask you to complete forms (the same ones you would if you went straight to the DVLA, so actually no saving admin time at all on your part), but they will add ‘admin fees’ or ‘service charges’ for simply passing it on to the relevant body. In short, they are playing the role of the middleman – which we all know are never really necessary!
So let’s be clear – NEVER use these sites! There is no need to Google any driving license/registration queries as you will find all of the information you need straight from the DVLA. If any website that offers DVLA related services and doesn’t have
“gov.uk” in the address bar, you’ve more than likely found a shyster website.