UK Services & Support Ltd BRITISHPassportServices Copycat Website issues DISCUSSION

[Amethyst]

Re: UK Services & Support Ltd Passport Scam

Would you be able to forward me the emails they sent to you Dann ?

Also can you tell me what number they wanted you to call.

On the 'we don't read emails' bit, we KNOW that they do, and reply if they fancy.

[EXC]

Re: UK Services & Support Ltd Passport Scam

On the 'we don't read emails' bit, we KNOW that they do, and reply if they fancy.

Apparently e-mails to email@britishpassportservices.org.uk get the ''we don't read emails' response but are subsequently responded to from complaints@britishpassportservices.org.uk

[Tools]

Re: UK Services & Support Ltd Passport Copycat Website issues

Hi
Where do we stand and what is the next step.. Do the CAB do anything>

BPS has said to me that ASA and TS have looked in to it and said they are free to carry on.

Trading Standards are looking into this I can assure you, however we are unable to give out too much information.

Can you forward me what they said about the ASA and TS having looked into it and allowing them to carry on please, I am sure they would be interested to see that too and I can pass it on to them

[didactosaurus]

Re: UK Services & Support Ltd BRITISH UK Passport Services Copycat Website issues

At least some of you have been getting SOME repsonse! I've had no response at all.

Mind you, attaching a lengthy letter full of clearly argued retorts to their amateurish tosh and BS might have that effect...

I'm still intrigued as to that email from the police officer referred to somewhere above. I wonder if that officer (if she is real) knows her emails have been publicised by these crooks? That alone represents a serious breach of data protection to me.

This is all so ridiculous. Because of the layers of complexity required in laws these days, scams like this are able to operate. These con artists have clearly ripped off and brought misery to many people already, and the official structures of society are stuck in endless/drawn-out machinations while they carry merrily on.

It doesn't take a court of law or even a law degree to look at the site and gather, without CLOSELY reading the small 'disclaimers', that these people APPEAR to offer a passport application and renewal service - ie. that you could use them to complete that process. NOWHERE does it CLEARLY state who they really are and what they really do.

That letter from the idiot solicitor at TLT posted above has angered me the most. That some highly educated and professionally qualified people are willing to operate on behalf of crooks and con artists shows the depth of the moral deficit in our 'who cares if it's the right thing to do as long as I get paid' society, in which the current bunch of idiotic and morally bankrupt politicians in charge play a major role. Cameron's Big Lie Society.

Anyway, that argument over the definition of the 'average consumer' is BS. It's the prominence of the FACTS that is the real issue - they keep what they REALLY do in the smallest print, and make the action buttons/statements the biggest. So the ASA ruling that the website was not 'sufficiently clear' still applies. Heck , the bonehead solicitor even makes the point that govt. sites are typically minimal and clear (so as to avoid ambiguity and confusion) whereas UK S&S's site(s) is/are not (thus resulting in consumer decisions based on a false impression given by the MAIN features of their sites).

Why the ASA adjudicator couldn't just write back saying that baffles me. I could make that distinction and I don't have a knighthood!

[Amethyst]

Re: UK Services & Support Ltd BRITISH UK Passport Services Copycat Website issues

I'm still intrigued as to that email from the police officer referred to somewhere above. I wonder if that officer (if she is real) knows her emails have been publicised by these crooks? That alone represents a serious breach of data protection to me.

She is aware and the MET legal team are involved. Additionally I have sent an FOI to the met on their policy of naming complaints in emails to suspects.

[didactosaurus]

Re: UK Services & Support Ltd BRITISH UK Passport Services Copycat Website issues

Well done Amethyst! At least some of us are on the right side of things :-)

[dann]

Re: UK Services & Support Ltd Passport Copycat Website issues

Hi yes can i inbox you?

[Amethyst]

Re: UK Services & Support Ltd BRITISH UK Passport Services Copycat Website issues

As brief an article as I could manage...hopefully gives an overview - It's http://legalbeagles.info/consumers-s...port-websites/ if anyone wants to share it on FB/Twitter etc.

Over the last few weeks LegalBEAGLES have received numerous pleas for help from consumers who have unwittingly attempted to book urgent passport application appointments through a ‘copycat’ third party website. The website, BritishPassportServices, is run by UK Services and Support Ltd, who are also responsible for numerous other websites including UKPassportOffices.co.uk, which was subject to an adjudication by the Advertising Standards Authority last year.
The company appears to have ramped up it’s ‘debt’ collection processes in recent weeks, sending multitudes of emails to consumers who haven’t paid the £117.60 ‘fee’ for using the website.
One consumer, who did not wish to be named, received a letter stating;

If we have to continuously contact you to obtain this fee there will be further fees added on to the current amount which you owe of £117.60, it also can result in further stages of action which is coming to visit you in person, Police getting involved, bailiffs sent to your house to collect the fee you owe, your credit rating suffering, taken to court and finally bankruptcy.

If you have received one of these letters or emails please do not worry. These claims are unfounded, misleading and solely designed to intimidate you into making payment.

• Police getting involved
  This is a civil, not a criminal matter, therefore the Police would not be involved.
• Bailiffs
  Bailiffs could only attend once a Court judgment has been in place and unpaid for more than 28 days.
• Credit Rating
  The only way your credit file could be affected is if there was a County Court Judgment against you that had remained unpaid for 28 days.
• Bankruptcy
  The level of debt required for any creditor to enter a bankruptcy petition is a minimum of £750.

Please post on the forum for support.
Additionally the company state they offer FREE legal advice, which is actually them telling you to sign up for a months trial to the Which? Legal Service. They also state they will contact Citizens Advice on your behalf and get them to telephone you with advice. This is not something CAB do, and if they passsed your personal information on without your permission would be a breach of Data Protection.

The company have also set up a Consumer-Rights website and are advertising through Google Ads to catch customers who are searching for help in dealing with the invoices and debt collection threats. Amusingly all the articles on that site are aimed at encouraging consumers to pay and detailing the terrible things that could happen if they don’t. (THEY WON’T – see above)

In addition to this misleading practice, the company are also responsible for a website claiming to be the ”Website Standards Agency” in the European Union, and a registered Political Party called ‘ Privatise for Prosperity’. They also run a ‘third party passport services’ comparison website, as well as a number of other websites offering passport application services, and assistance with immigrations and visas.
The company directors have a chequered history too, in 2010 Mr Richard Howard was fined £1000 by a premium rate telephone number provider tribunal for sending consumers fake debt collection threats and telling them to ring a premium rate telephone number.
IF you have been mislead by this company, or any other copycat website, please post on the forum and make a complaint to Trading Standards via the Citizens Advice consumer Helpline on 03454 040506

[Amethyst]

Re: UK Services & Support Ltd Passport Copycat Website issues

Hi yes can i inbox you?

of course, or email me - admin@legalbeagles.info

[dann]

Re: UK Services & Support Ltd Passport Copycat Website issues

Hi the text i got from them actually said Government passport and was a rate of £1.53 pm but when i questioned they said that number wasnt routed to them and when you call its a dead number or a message,

[dann]

Re: UK Services & Support Ltd Passport Copycat Website issues

Thanks ive inboxes Tools the admin. :-)

[Amethyst]

Re: UK Services & Support Ltd Passport Copycat Website issues

Thank you xx

[Amethyst]

Re: UK Services & Support Ltd Passport Copycat Website issues

Hi the text i got from them actually said Government passport and was a rate of £1.53 pm but when i questioned they said that number wasnt routed to them and when you call its a dead number or a message,

Do you still have that text on your phone ? any chance of a screenshot or a photo of it on your screen ?

[didactosaurus]

Re: UK Services & Support Ltd BRITISH UK Passport Services Copycat Website issues

Excellent article, Amethyst :-). Shared on my FB.

[Amethyst]

Re: UK Services & Support Ltd Passport Copycat Website issues

Dann, thanks for that, I've just added a little bit about the ''website standards agency'' to my article.

They appear to use their own ‘Website Standards Agency’ to justify their own services in letters to consumers;

In additition to this we also adhere to the Website Standards Agencys’ Code of Conduct which requires websites to operate their business and advertise their services in a clear and compliant manner. Those failing to do so are required to provide the consumer will a full refund and risk an investigation and fine of up to £10,000.00. Details of the WSA can be found at: http://www.WebsiteStandardsAgency.eu

Remember, the ‘Website Standards Agency’ is the same company as the BritishPassportServices company and run by Mr Richard Howard.