Black hat sites making millions per month from UK gov sites

K

Kerkat

New member
Nov 7, 2010
135
1
0
I heard a programme on BBC Radio 4 today about fake sites that were coining it in by replicating UK gov payment sites. They were duplicating almost any site that people used to hand over money to the government, TV licenses, driving test applications etc and they were using names based on the original URL to add trust to the searches.

It wasn't clear if the site owners were getting prosecuted or had committed any crime, they had a small warning disclaimer in the top corner saying the site wasn't affiliated or connected to the government. When the sites were discovered they were shut down but reopened almost immediately under a different name.

They didn't blatantly steal money but charged for services that were free on the real government sites by adding £20 or £30 on to each transaction. According to Radio 4, which is probably the most respected and highbrow radio station in the UK for current affairs etc, the people running the sites were/are making "millions per month".
 


I imagine the UK gov't would get these guys in one way or the other, legal technicalities be damned...

The IRS is technically illegal; does that stop agents with guns coming after you if you don't pay your taxes?
 
Last edited:
Kerkat said:
I heard a programme on BBC Radio 4 today about fake sites that were coining it in by replicating UK gov payment sites. They were duplicating almost any site that people used to hand over money to the government, TV licenses, driving test applications etc and they were using names based on the original URL to add trust to the searches.

It wasn't clear if the site owners were getting prosecuted or had committed any crime, they had a small warning disclaimer in the top corner saying the site wasn't affiliated or connected to the government. When the sites were discovered they were shut down but reopened almost immediately under a different name.

They didn't blatantly steal money but charged for services that were free on the real government sites by adding £20 or £30 on to each transaction. According to Radio 4, which is probably the most respected and highbrow radio station in the UK for current affairs etc, the people running the sites were/are making "millions per month".
Click to expand...

That is not black hat, that is fraud.
 
microphone head said:
That is not black hat, that is fraud.
Click to expand...
Don't know, the person still gets the thing he is paying for. They could say they are just adding a bit on for providing the service of facilitating the transaction.

If the government could have done them for fraud they probably would have by now.
 
This is extremely interesting from so many standpoints. Considering they could defend themselves with a grey area saying they are offering to send the information as a concierge service which in ones eyes would be no different then Orbitz booking your hotel for you and charging a fee.

The ethics, legality, and compliance issues would keep me out of this one but would love to see how this develops.
 
could you remember what date and time you heard this? i wouldnt mind listening to it on iplayer
 
it's been going on for ages, i think i remember someone here saying their parents had ordered a visa from one of these sites, although they will get what they paid for, as above it's just a front for "admin" fees and collecting details they can sell on.

Some of them have been around for years and afaik theres nothing that can be done about it as long as it's "clear" that the site isn't official. Often the sites will add a quite visible disclaimer, yet people still seem to ignore it or just don't understand and proceed anyway.

As the UK's internet is filtered now like it is in China, I'm surprised they havn't quickly pushed through rules to block these sites.
 
DMV.org was doing something similar here in the US about 10 years ago. I used to work at an e-commerce company that also produced a popular driver's ed DVD, and they were the biggest affiliate because everyone thought they were the DMV (and by extension, that the e-commerce company was the DMV, even though it was CLEARLY not even trying to give that impression). We'd get calls from irate people asking why their kid didn't pass the driving test, asking when we open, etc. It was insane. I can see why people were confused by the DMV.org site, though, because they did everything possible to make people think they were the DMV without actually saying it.

Then, of course, they got in a trouble and had to make changes (like the giant disclaimer at the top of the site). And with that, sales dropped significantly :)
 
Kerkat said:
I heard a programme on BBC Radio 4 today about fake sites that were coining it in by replicating UK gov payment sites. They were duplicating almost any site that people used to hand over money to the government, TV licenses, driving test applications etc and they were using names based on the original URL to add trust to the searches.

It wasn't clear if the site owners were getting prosecuted or had committed any crime, they had a small warning disclaimer in the top corner saying the site wasn't affiliated or connected to the government. When the sites were discovered they were shut down but reopened almost immediately under a different name.

They didn't blatantly steal money but charged for services that were free on the real government sites by adding £20 or £30 on to each transaction. According to Radio 4, which is probably the most respected and highbrow radio station in the UK for current affairs etc, the people running the sites were/are making "millions per month".
Click to expand...

Came across this when helping a friend book his driving theory test.

Site looked quite like a .gov, at a closer glance, they operate exactly like an affiliate for the goverment. As said above, there will be technicalities in which their services are a 'hassle free' way to do things and they make the booking for you.
 
Unarmed Gunman said:
Holy shit, how did you guys let that happen? Who decides which sites you're allowed to visit?
Click to expand...

It fucking happened alright. Government sneaked a bill through:


The Digital Economy Act. 2010

​
Court-ordered blocks
It is an established procedure in the UK for rights-holders to routinely use court orders to require ISPs to block copyright-infringing sites. For instance, court orders obtained by the BPI in October 2013 resulted in the blocking of 21 file-sharing sites including FilesTube and Torrentz. There is a private agreement in principle between leading ISPs and rights holders, made with encouragement from government, to quickly restrict access to websites when presented with court orders.The court orders are not made public and "overblocking" is sometimes reported, such as the accidental blocking of the Radio Times, Crystal Palace F.C., Taylor Swift and over 100 others websites in August 2013.
Click to expand...

Internet censorship in the United Kingdom - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

We're now living in Orwell's description over here, although savvy-enough people evade it as best they can, but the overall populace appear to accept it "because it's a crime and is downloading pirated versions of stuff, and that's wrong! We're law abiding citizens... etc. etc." What they never realised was that its underlying function was in fact censorship of the internet here in the United Kingdom.

To me: I couldn't give two fucking hoots. Like all of us here on WF: On the internet you live in whichever fucking country you choose to get what data you require back from a server that is serving it up, and you choose the fastest response, quickest speed, and most reliable uptime. But the most important thing you can ever ever look for here in the UK is 24/7 support with a competitive edge.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top Bottom
Back