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Source: Financial Mail on Sunday, LondonJan.迷你倉旺角 05--Online companies set up to mimic Government websites continue to trick consumers into paying hefty fees for everything from renewing a passport or driving licence to filing a tax return.This is despite promises from regulators, Government departments and leading internet search engines to crack down on these websites that charge fees of up to pounds sterling 1,000 for services that are often free on official Government websites. The Advertising Standards Authority labels them 'copycat' sites.Hundreds of readers have contacted The Mail on Sunday in the past month to demand that such websites are shut down. This followed our report on websites that promise to process, for a substantial fee, your self-assessment tax return.Readers have also been fooled into sending money for a European Health Insurance Card (otherwise free) or paying extra on top of the normal fees for driving licences, passports, the London Congestion Charge and acquiring Land Registry details. Not only do many of the copycat websites look official but people are being encouraged to use them because key internet search engines, such as Google, allow these websites to pay for the right to appear at the top of search lists when consumers type in key words such as 'passport renewal'. A Google search for 'passport renewal' results in three copycat websites being listed before the official website for Her Majesty's Passport Office. Top of the list is passport-uk.co.uk, which charges pounds sterling 69 for the renewal of an adult passport. This is on top of the pounds sterling 72.50 levied either by HM Passport Office or the pounds sterling 81.25 charged by the Post Office under its 'Passport Check & Send' scheme.A search for 'driving licence renewal' also results in three copycat websites appearing ahead of the official site for the Driver & Vehicle Licensing Agency. Heading this list is drivinglicence.uk.com which charges pounds sterling 50 for processing a provisional licence application. This is on top of the pounds sterling 50 levied by the DVLA.In its terms and conditions governing adverts, Google clearly states that it does not allow the promotion of sites that charge for Government forms that are normally free or available at a lower price on the official Government site. But its policing of these rules seems lax. In December, Google removed an advert for a self-assessment tax return copycat website after pressure from The Mail on Sunday. But only last week, the same website ? taxreturngateway.com ? was appearing at the top of a list for a search under 'self-assessment tax return'.David Davis, Conservative MP for Haltemprice and Howden, East Riding of Yorkshire, says it is 'plain as a pikestaff' that Google must do more to ensure consumers are not tricked into using these bogus websites.He adds: 'By allowing these sites to pay their way to the top of searches, Google is ultimately condoning what is a consumer trap.'Google says it is doing its best to ensure any adverts that fall short of its policies are dealt with as quickly as possible.Davis intends to raise the issue in the House of Commons and believes that the Home Office (responsible for passports), Department for Transport (driving licences) and Treasury (tax) should be doing more to alert consumers.Ondine Barry, a marketing manager at Loughborough University in Leicestershire, was tricked into using a copycat website last summer when looking to renew her older daughter's passport.Ondine, 42, is marriedmini storageto Ben, 38, a motoring journalist, and they live in Stamford, Lincolnshire with their two girls, Evia, five, and Isla, two.Ondine says: 'When I typed "renewing a child's British passport" into Google, the website passportdirect.org.uk was one of the first to come up. Given it was an "org" site rather than "com" or "co.uk" and because it was cleverly done up to look like the real McCoy I assumed it was the Government's own passport site.'She adds: 'We paid the pounds sterling 49 and filled in the renewal form on the website. We then got an email saying we would have to send in Evia's photograph, but it said nothing about further payments. So, a week later when we received the filled out forms in the mail, only to realise we still had to pay the Government fee of pounds sterling 46, we were furious ? angry both at passportdirect for hoodwinking us and at ourselves for being duped.'Although Ondine complained, passportdirect said its website clearly spelt out what its service offered and how its fees worked.Judith Martinez, 69, a widow from Greenford, West London, was also duped by the passportdirect website. Two months ago, she paid it pounds sterling 69 for the renewal of her passport and realised her mistake too late.Her bank refused to refund her money while passportdirect stonewalled her emails. Judith, a retired Job Centre manager, says: 'Google should insist that these unofficial websites state in block capital letters that they are not Her Majesty's Passport Office.'Patricia Jones, from Lichfield in Staffordshire, and Dennis Wilkinson, of Sheffield, have also fallen foul of a copycat passport website. Both used website passport-uk.co.uk and ended up paying pounds sterling 69 on top of the normal pounds sterling 72.50 that the Passport Office charges for the renewal of a passport.Patricia, 67, a former sales assistant for a major high street retailer, used the website to renew her husband's passport as a 'surprise' Christmas present.It was only when she spoke to the Passport Office that she realised a passport cannot be renewed online and that the pounds sterling 69 she paid was no more than a processing fee for the privilege of passport-uk.co.uk sending her a printed copy of the form she had filled in online.Dennis, 73, renewed his passport last month ahead of going to Egypt to celebrate a 50th wedding anniversary with wife Diane, 69.Dennis, a former agent for an insurance company, says: 'I was brought up to trust people. I feel both small and hoodwinked by this service.' A spokesman for the Passport Office says: 'It's totally unacceptable that unscrupulous companies are continuing to trick people.'We continue to monitor these sites and explore new ways to counteract their activities.'The Advertising Standards Authority that is concerned about these websites although it says it is not against the law for a company to offer a service similar to that of an official Government body and to charge for it.The Authority has commissioned consumer research into the problem. Once this is completed, it will consider further enforcement action. Last year it banned adverts for three companies.Last week, The Mail on Sunday invited the owners of websites passportdirect.org.uk and passport-uk.co.uk and drivinglicence.uk.com to defend the value of their services and respond to criticism levelled at them by readers. None did so.Copyright: ___ (c)2014 Daily Mail (London, ) Visit the Daily Mail (London, ) at .dailymail.co.uk/home/index.html Distributed by MCT Information Services迷你倉