MILLIONS of learner drivers have been warned of a “black market” test scam conning them out of £1000’s.
Since the pandemic, the demand for driving tests has sky-rocketed with average waiting times taking around five months in England and Wales.
This has resulted in some desperate learners travelling to sites that are more remote and in lower demand, or they book in their area of choice through third-party websites.
Typically, fraudsters run these third-party websites – using bots to quickly book tests.
Practical tests normally cost around £62 on weekdays or £75 on weekends.
However, fraudsters are scamming them for around £200.
That’s near enough four times the price of an official standard test.
What they do is resell the slots at overinflated prices, or via paid-through services that provide test cancellation alerts.
Since January 2023, the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) has issued 283 warnings, 746 suspensions and closed 689 businesses for wrongly using its booking service.
Even though the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) has tried to reduce the number of these scam sites, The Royal Automobile Club (RAC) has still found third parties selling many slots via encrypted WhatsApp chats.
Some sellers even use “disappearing messages”, so their conversations can’t be traced, This is Money reports.
Many learners might also submit their personal information to apps that supposedly provide cancellation alerts.
Hefty sign-up fees for these apps may also await the vulnerable learners, mounting up over time.
With some “VIP” packages being advertised at £117.
One freelance journalist, Lara Olszowska fell victim to the black test market.
She told the RAC: “I bought into the driving test black market at £169 for a test worth £62, just to avoid having to retake my theory and delay my practical exam.
“I gave them my driving licence number, my theory certificate number, and my home address without batting an eyelid.
“After failing that test, I went online to try to book my next attempt, but the DVSA website kept popping up with an ‘error’ message.
“That led to a fateful phone call with the DVSA where I learned my account was blocked for having ‘too many’ tests booked using my details – even though I was blissfully unaware for the years it was going on.
“A company had used my details to repeatedly book tests under my name 52 times and swap them with other candidates who wanted the slots for triple the price.”
Simon Williams, Head of Policy at the RAC said: “Definitive action needs to be taken to prevent ‘bots’ booking tests and then selling them on to desperate learners for crazy amounts of money.
“This leads to genuine slots being wasted and learners, who are ready to take their tests, missing out and having to wait months for a chance to become a qualified driver.
“It’s no wonder some learners end up booking test slots before they’re ready.
“It’s also very wrong that real people who are genuinely trying to book their tests are being treated as if they are ‘bots’ because their data has been stolen by fraudsters.”
If you think you’ve been a victim of an online scam or fraud, Contact Action Fraud.
You can access Action Fraud directly or via GOV.UK’s website.
How do I avoid the scammers?
- Only book test slots via the Government website.
- Don’t sign up to alerts or provide any personal details.
- Watch out for anyone recommending scammer sites – most likely to happen on forums such as Reddit or Mumsnet.
This news comes after drivers were warned of scammers sending them texts about fake parking charges.
The DVLA issued a warning regarding dodgy penalty charges coming from the government.
The text messages being sent out warning people they have got a “parking penalty charge” and if they do not pay the fee on time, they could be banned from driving, incur further fees or be taken to court.
The text message, complete with spelling mistakes, says: “Dvsa notice for you: You have a parking penalty charge due on 2024/9/30.
“If you do not pay your fine on time, Your car may be banned from driving, you might have to pay more, or you could be taken to court.
“Please enter your license plate in the link after reading the information, Check and pay parking penalty charge. Thank you again for your copperation. Dvsa.”
The DVSA does not issue or deal with parking fines.
If you do receive a message you can report it to the National Cyber Security Centre or click on the link here.
You do not have to contact the DVSA if you get the message.
RAC spokesman Rod Dennis said: “This new text message trick is the latest in a series of nasty scams where criminals are catching drivers out by imitating online payment methods.
“In the short-term, the cost is unnecessary and expensive as drivers end up paying a fine for an offence they didn’t commit.
“The long-term implications can be even worse if scammers use their bank or personal details elsewhere.
“It’s incredibly unusual to receive a text about a parking fine if there wasn’t a ticket on your car in the first place – and the ticket normally includes information on how to pay.
“To be safe rather than sorry, we’d advise any recipients of the text to first check if they need to pay a fine with the authority rather than following the URL in the SMS.
“If a fine is due, ask for the payment options and, if you choose to pay it online, make sure the website is the genuine one and that any details you enter are sent securely.”
