I clicked on first site that came up. I assumed it was official
– Carol Moore on online peril
A concerned gran has warned of the dangers of unwittingly using third-party websites after she paid for a new television licence that never arrived.
Carol Moore, from Alva in Clackmannanshire, paid almost £200 for a replacement TV licence to a copycat website. A licence costs £159 if purchased from the official TV Licensing website.
“I just clicked on the first site that came up on my computer when I searched Google,” Carol said. “I assumed it was the official site so I paid my money and thought no more about it.
“But no licence ever materialised and I then couldn’t get my money refunded from the company.”
She is one of thousands of people who visit third-party sites thinking they are the real thing.
Carol was shocked cloned websites were still allowed to operate. “It is worrying these people can take money off folk with little or no consequences,” she said. “I am now suspicious of every website I visit and I was concerned I had supplied important personal and financial details to these people.
“Something should be done to stamp out these copycat sites and the search engine owners also need to do more to protect people.”