Fake ETA/eVisa Travel Authorization Scam Targeting Travelers to the United Kingdom
Third-party websites impersonate the UK's official Electronic Travel Authorization (ETA) system, charging inflated fees for a service travelers could get directly from the government at the real price.
Part of: Fake ETA/eVisa Travel Authorization Scam
Last reviewed: 5 July 2026
The UK's rollout of its Electronic Travel Authorization requirement created a wave of confusion among travelers unfamiliar with the new system, and unofficial third-party websites moved quickly to capture that confusion with search ads and lookalike application pages.
How this scam works on the United Kingdom
A traveler planning a trip to the United Kingdom searches online for 'UK ETA' or 'UK eVisa' and lands on a third-party website designed to closely resemble the official GOV.UK application page. The site charges a significantly inflated fee — sometimes several times the real government fee — while presenting itself as an official or 'required' processing service. In many cases the site does eventually submit the real application on the traveler's behalf, meaning the traveler technically receives a valid ETA but has vastly overpaid for a service they could have completed themselves directly on GOV.UK. In worse cases, the site collects payment and passport details but never files anything, leaving the traveler without a valid ETA and their passport data exposed. Some travelers only realize the fee was inflated when comparing notes with fellow travelers or reading the fine print buried at the bottom of the site.
Common red flags
- Website URL does not end in the official gov.uk domain
- Fee charged is significantly higher than the UK government's officially published ETA fee
- Site design closely mimics GOV.UK's styling but with subtle branding differences
- Site appears prominently in paid search ads for 'UK ETA' or 'UK eVisa' searches
- Vague disclaimers in small print noting the site is a 'third-party assistance service' not affiliated with the UK government
How to protect yourself
- Apply for a UK ETA only directly through the official GOV.UK website or the official UK ETA app
- Check that any application website's domain ends in gov.uk before entering passport or payment details
- Compare any fee charged against the UK government's officially published ETA fee before paying
- Be skeptical of the first few search results for ETA-related searches, since paid ads often lead to third-party sites
- Report suspicious ETA websites to the UK's official fraud reporting channels
How to report it
- Report the fraudulent site to Action Fraud UK (actionfraud.police.uk)
- Report the website to the UK Home Office if it falsely claims official government affiliation
- Dispute the payment with your card issuer if you were charged an inflated or fraudulent fee
- Report the scam to the FTC at reportfraud.ftc.gov if you are a US traveler
Frequently asked questions
How much should a UK ETA actually cost?
You can check the current official fee directly on GOV.UK, and any third-party site charging significantly more should be treated with suspicion since the ETA can be applied for at the official rate without an intermediary.
How can I tell if an ETA website is the real UK government site?
The official site's domain will end in gov.uk exactly — watch for lookalike domains with extra words, different suffixes, or slight misspellings that mimic the real address.