07/07/2014

Awareness Campaign Launched Over Fake Govt Websites

The National Trading Standards Board has launched a campaign to raise awareness of fake government websites, charging people for services that are free.

It follows the arrest of five people last week in connection with websites make to look like official government sites.

Almost six thousand complaints have been lodged with the Advertising Standards Authorities and Citizens Advice over websites that try to charge a fee for services such as tax returns, driving licences and passport applications.

People have been warned to watch for websites that contain a reference to the official government web address, such as "govuk" or "directgov".

The official government url is gov.uk.

Those arrested had been released on bail, pending further investigation.

(MH/CD)

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