Esta application website

Designator

Hi all

Just a quick one. I recently filled out a form and fee on an esta website for an esta application to enter the united states. Thinking as usual this would only be 10-20 euro but saw a transaction on my bank account ESTAFEE.COM for over €90 . Has anyone had this happen them? Im afraid this could be some kind of scam website considering the high price .

Atlantic Dawn

It's a scam website.

Only legit site is

https://esta.cbp.dhs.gov/

Designator

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121656335#Comment_121656335

thought so, what should I do next? Knowing that Ive paid a fee to this scam website

irishgeo

You got scammed this is the official website and it's only 21 dollars.

https://esta.cbp.dhs.gov/

ESTAfee.Com Is an assistance website claiming to help with your application. I doubt you will get your money back.

Designator

Ill get over being scammed out of 90 euro once thats all they take from me. My fear is that they will take more money from my account.

Atlantic Dawn

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121656346#Comment_121656346

You may be able to get a refund from your card provider, problem is there's so many conditions you will have agreed to on the website they may not be able to refund you as they will argue they provided the service you wished for. They may have actually entered your details in to the correct website as a service for you, who knows, I'd expect they will issue with a document that can be verified through the official site if they have. The official fee is $21.

This scam is going for at least 5 years, they used to have the first listing bought on Google if you ran a search for ESTA, lots of people have fallen for it.

Designator

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121656364#Comment_121656364

thats exactly how I fell for it, it was the top ad on google and I didnt pay attention that it was a sponsored ad so they were paying to have it up there.

irishgeo

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121656366#Comment_121656366

Get an ad blocker.

All the official government sites are .gov domains.

The ESTA used to be free and allegedly the US government seen all the scam websites making money and started charging.

Designator

Just checked the official esta website and my application was approved so they are genuinely applying for you but basically charging a fee for nothing. Glad its been approved at least legitimately even if I did end up overpaying a lot

irishgeo

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121656388#Comment_121656388

You paid them to be in the form for you. I would be careful because if they lied on the form you could be up **** creek. The border agent won't care.

Designator

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121656407#Comment_121656407

I filled out all the details myself just through there website and according to the offical esta website my application has been approved so it seems they have just charged their fee to me for a service I didnt really need

irishgeo

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121656454#Comment_121656454

Yep

witchgirl26

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121656381#Comment_121656381

When was the Esta free? I've had one for the past 14 years and always had to pay to get it (& yes it was from the official site). Now it has increased over the years but I never got it free.

OP best bet is to try a cash back on your card. To be completely safe, you might need to cancel your card or keep a close eye on it.

Fill in the official one from the official website noted above as there's no guarantee yours went through.

Designator

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121658435#Comment_121658435

Well I checked my application number that the website sent me on the official site and the official site is telling me my application was authorised so it appears they do send through your application but charge a fee that’s unnecessary for it

It’s a web crawler type of site that does the job but collects an extra fee from you. However at least you get your clearance for US and a lesson learned for the future.

When crawlers are easy to write.. you can do an online course and learn how to do it yourself if you’re curious!

circular flexing

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121658435#Comment_121658435

I think it was free for a brief period of time when it was first introduced. Wikipedia says it was free from August 2008 until September 2010.