Beware Renewing Car Road Tax on Line

[AgedCrone]

I have just tried to renew my road tax online….

When you go onto the gov.uk/vehicle-tax….. website….when it comes to the last page when you pay and put in your card number and security code the website address changes from a site to a ww1. site.

It is very subtle…and looks authentic….but when you press PAY the screen goes black….thank goodness I remembered that from when I was nearly caught changing my address on my driving licence…..so I closed the whole thing down…& thank goodness the money did not get taken from my card.

Very annoyingly the DVLA know about this…but they don’t seem to publicise it very well….or if they do…I missed it.

So PLEASE take care if you renew your Road Tax online….if the screen goes black after you have entered your payment details…close it down immediately.

Tomorrow I am off down to the post office to renew my road tax in person….with cash!

SEE MY REPLY TO MYSELF BELOW!

[AgedCrone]

SEE ABOVE… I don’t know why but it won’t print “a site rather than a ww1 site”…….which was the whole point…it is NOT a GOV website!

I am trying to say just a WWW site but it won’t print it for some reason!

[helixhelix in reply to AgedCrone]

Because it has turned into a hyper link that takes us straight to it!

[nomoreheels]

AC, just so you know the gov.uk link comes up as Page not found & the site link comes up as This site can't be reached… maybe just as well!

[AgedCrone in reply to nomoreheels]

If you are not careful ww1.gov.uk comes up describing itself as an “authorised site”Surely the DVLA have some way of posting on ALL THEIR SITES…a warning of some sort..but I guess if the site is foreign….there is nothing they can do?

.So far three people have emailed me they are going to the PO tomorrow….to get their tax paid .

Maybe that is why they don’t warn you ….the post office staff will be overrun? Tough!!!!

[rabbits65]

I don’t trust any online stuff , I have to get my car tax this month and I definitely will be getting mine at the Post Office . Thanks for your post. 😊

[weymouth321]

Thank you for the warning .

[Moomin8]

Thank you for sharing this - that's awful!!!

[AgedCrone in reply to Moomin8]

Everything on line these days seems to have a reason not to do it!It appears the villains who operate these scams are far cleverer than the

honest (?) people who run them!

[summer32A]

Post office all the timeCar tax reminder should stil be sent 14days before it's due there is an email and phone number on this you can pay be phone..I often pay be phone if too busy to go to post office its an automated payment system

[Snackjack]

Thank you for the warning as I usualy pay mine online.

[KittyJ]

Where did you get the website address from? Did you get an email? I did my car tax beginning of the month online ( and always do it online) and didn’t have this happen.

[AgedCrone in reply to KittyJ]

I got the website from the reminder form I got from the DVLA.Because I knew about this scam from when I changed my address last year ….when the screen went black it immediately dawned on me this is where switch takes place!

Thankfully the payment didn’t go through….. so this morning is going to be spent phoning all the companies I’ve got standing orders with …debited to that card! Grrrrr!

[Scottishlad]

When doing anything financial online you should always type the FULL web address into the address bar at the top of screen.

NEVER use the search bar further down the page. This puts at risk of being mis-directed. You can end up on fake websites or ones which charge for services which are free on .gov websites.

Always check for the padlock on web address.

We are so used to going straight to the search engine as that is what we 90% of the time or more.

[AgedCrone in reply to Scottishlad]

I did that….. but as I tried to explain the whole form is the correct DVLA form until you get to the part where you pay ….when you put in your card number and press “Pay” the screen goes black… and when it reappears it is not gov.uk…it is ww1!I defy anybody who does not know about this scam to check they are on the same website at that point.

Luckily I had been pre-warned as the same thing happened when I tried to do my change of address recently so I closed it down immediately… but as I had given my credit card and the security code I now have to change my card…..causing a whole new lot of problems.

[Tired-fed-up]

A further warning - I renewed my tax online a few months back and immediately got an email to say the payment didn’t go through. I stopped myself just before I clicked the link. My tax was paid fine of course.

[AgedCrone in reply to Tired-fed-up]

I am just driving myself mad talking to companies saying NO I don’t need advice on my debts…. I just want to tell you my card has been blocked because of a scam & my new one will not arrive until 1st of May …would they like to be paid as a one off on another card? Really somebody should check the calibre of people they allow to answer the company telephone.

Trying to get the 12-year-olds who answer the phone to understand is proving ……difficult!

[Wobblyone]

What is a ww1 site?

[AgedCrone in reply to Wobblyone]

The scam site trying to steal the money I was trying to pay to DVLA!!!

[Plumcrumble]

I renew mine by using the phone number on the letter, its automated so it doesn't take long, best wishes Sarah x

[AgedCrone in reply to Plumcrumble]

I’m going into town today so I shall just do it the old-fashioned way …..cash over the counter!I’m set in my ways & I don’t want to give them the number of another card…..I got the website address from the DVLA reminder form.

The website address only changes when you press “pay “…. Then the screen goes black….. it was then I remembered when I tried to change my address on my driving license this happened ….so I immediately closed it down and no money changed hands thank goodness.

Of course it would be the card I have registered to do all my shopping wouldn’t it? 😩

[Plumcrumble in reply to AgedCrone]

Yes, thank goodness you found out it time, they are so clever these scams, you have to check everything these days, thanks for letting us all know, 💕

[oldtimer2]

The letter about the renewal has the correct website address on it. It's better to enter that rather than using a search box.

[AgedCrone in reply to oldtimer2]

As I have explained I used the website on the DVLA reminder form and it does appear as the correct website at that point.

The website changes when you get to the stage of paying.

When the screen asking for your card number and your security number appears and you press “pay” the screen goes black……

altho I closed the site then….the next page did appear….. and that is when the website name changes from site to ww1.

As somebody just said…..she got a message at that point saying her payment had not gone through…..luckily she did not press “pay” again …….but checked and her payment had gone through to DVLA as she wanted.

But that seems to be the point the website switches.

It is beyond me why on the real DVLA Site they don’t prominently display a warning to check the website …& if it goes black at the payment screen to close it down.

NB: Once again as I read this it won’t just write the 3 w site???

[Goldsky]

Thanks for that very helpful information

[AgedCrone in reply to Goldsky]

But why won’t this site fwd & PRINT the three w site…… when I’m trying to explain the difference?

[Ritaritis]

Thanks for the warning.🐕🐕

[Blodynhaul]

O dear! it's normally a very good & reliable service renewing online. Thanks for the warning!

[oldtimer2]

Sorry - it's difficult to get the point across isn't it! Perhaps it would be worth writing to one of the complaint pages of the newspapers? They seem to be the only people who can get Governmental officials to change what they do. e.g. thisismoney.co.uk/money/col...

[AgedCrone in reply to oldtimer2]

The DVLA do actually write & apologise…..but do NOTHING,Maybe if all the civil servants who are working from home get the message and get on the train and go to their offices…. all the people who are experiencing this and those who can’t get their driving licenses returned or their passports in time to go on holiday……might get what they pay for?

[strongmouse]

Hi, it may actually be an okay website domain - although a 'black page' is not!

When using some websites they have limited capacity and use other links / domains to cope with additional information / processes. As I understand it the important part when using on-line payments is the as that tells you it is safe to use for payments.

I hope your local Post Office deals with the road tax for you. As for printing, try select / copy and save to a word document. I can't always get out so the internet has been an amazing tool for me. Agree we need to be careful. xx