Wise up to web ‘copy cats’

PEOPLE are being warned to ‘wise up to the web’ so they don’t end up out of pocket by fraudsters using sophisticated copy cat websites.

Designed to look the same as official websites, the copy cats often dupe people in to paying for goods or services which should be cheaper, or even free.

Over 5,000 complaints were made to Citizens Advice last year and 700 were made to the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA), most commonly reporting fake websites related to Government services, such as tax returns, driving licences and passports.

Here in Carmarthenshire, the council’s Trading Standards team are the only ones in Wales to use a dedicated internet investigator and a computer forensic suite to sniff out online fraudtsers.

Their investigations have uncovered a range of copy cat websites operating from within Carmarthenshire, many of them duping web users from across the world.

They include a local millionaire businessman operating a fake Sony website selling counterfeit Sony memory cards, with bases in Llandeilo, St Clears and Majorca. The operator was prosecuted under Trade Marks Act and had £302,000 seized from him by means of the Proceeds of Crime Act.

In a separate scam, a local businessman was prosecuted for operating a website from Cross Hands, India and China – selling motorbikes purporting to be Honda. He was prosecuted for trade mark and safety offences, was fined and was subject to Proceeds of Crime Confiscation.

A further six people from across the UK were caught operating several websites offering employment opportunities in a ‘bait and switch’ operation. They were each sentenced to three years in prison for their crimes.

Cllr Jim Jones, Executive Board Member for Public Protection, said: “We are determined to come down hard on fraudsters who hide behind their computer screens to con innocent people out of their money.

“These copy cat websites are sophisticated, and designed to trick the user, but if people are just that little bit wiser they may see through them.”

To report a misleading or copycat website, call the Citizens Advice consumer service on 03454 04 05 06.

Avoid being duped:

• Use GOV.UK. It is the easiest and most secure place to find government services and information online, and instead of searching for the services you need via a search engine, use the search function within the website.
• If you do use a search engine, look out for the differences between natural search results and paid-for search results (usually highlighted on a coloured background at the top of the list).
• The misleading websites often use URLs that include fragments such as ‘govuk’, ‘directgov’ or relevant organisation names to make them appear as official providers of certain services. Similar design features are also incorporated to replicate the ‘look and feel’ of official service websites.