Tax disc scam site ripped down

The Government has pledged to step up efforts against rogue online advertising after Google was forced to rip down a website which was charging people for tax disc transactions which are free on the official DVLA site.
The site, which was almost identical to the DVLA one, charged motorists a £40 service fee when purchasing a tax disc. A link to it was also appearing at the top of search listings as a Google ad until it was discovered to be fake. Car owners are being urged to be vigilant when using such services online.
The official site taxdisc.direct.gov.uk makes no such charges and only takes payment of the cost of the tax disc itself.
A DVLA spokeswoman said: “Several organisations have a role to prevent websites making misleading claims. The Government is working, and will continue to work, with the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA), the National Trading Standards Board (NTSB), Which? and search engine providers such as Google, to raise awareness of this issue and to ensure enforcement action is taken where appropriate.”
The Department for Business is aware of how sites are portraying themselves as official government services and is working to prevent it happening in future. It has set aside an additional £120,000 for the National Trading Standards Board to help identify the sites and take action against them.
The ASA has already taken action against sites which charge to block nuisance calls and sign people up to the Telephone Preference Service, although strictly they are not illegal if the charges are flagged up.

Related stories
Paid-for TPS firms under attack
ASA slams ‘nuisance call block’ site
ASA bans ad for TPS ‘paid-for’ rival