2 ms·

Can you give me an actual example of this with a google search right now?

iso1210 6y ago
I just did an ingonito search for "!g ETA", I got 3 results on the screen CanadianTravel - ETA Ad·www.canadaonlineapplication.org/ CanadianTravel - ETA Ad·www.canadatravelvisa.com/ CanadaETA - for UK citiziens - canadian-etavisas.com Ad·www.canadian-etavisas.com/ Which all look the same, and seem to charge $99 for the 'service' of filling in a form the Canadian government charges $7 for. After that there is a wikipage for the Spanish terrorist group, two more wiki pages, then finally The official site: Electronic Travel Authorization (eTA): How to apply - Canada.ca Searching google for "Canada ETA" gives the above 3 adverts and also a link to https://www.etatocanada.com/ https://www.etatocanada.com/ which charges £69 for the service.
- fastball 6y ago
  So.... not a scam, in that you get exactly what you pay for. And certainly not phishing, which this article was talking about.
  - Macha 6y ago
    How is this not a scam? The company is just presenting their form to ask for the same information, relaying it to the government, and charging you $90 for the privilege.
    - fastball 6y ago
      To me a scam involves paying money and then not getting anything for it. You get exactly what you pay for. These is just competing businesses / orgs vying for your custom, where one org (the govt) is charging $0, so you should totally use them, but won't if you're foolish. Regardless, one tiny example of all google results (goverment form services) is... the vast minority of google search results. It is certainly not "invariably" a scam.
DanBC 6y ago
In the UK there was a problem of commercial companies setting up look-alike websites and charging a fee to do stuff that is free to do via the correct gov website. It's not as common now, partly because UK orgs put pressure on Google to fix it. Here's an example: [change name deed poll] https://www.google.co.uk/search?sxsrf=ALeKk00J9KQR_SH1ZlvHgiu5F9t3Ymt2yg%3A1610900470220&source=hp&ei=9mMEYK__CuPogwfNs4joAg&q=change+name+by+deed+poll&oq=change+name+&gs_lcp=CgZwc3ktYWIQARgAMgUIABDJAzICCAAyAggAMgIIADICCAAyAggAMgIIADICCAAyAggAMgIIADoECCMQJzoICAAQsQMQgwE6CwguELEDEMcBEKMCOggILhCxAxCDAToOCC4QsQMQgwEQxwEQowI6AgguOgUIABCxAzoFCC4QsQM6CAgAELEDEMkDUKwLWOIYYL0taABwAHgAgAFfiAHjB5IBAjEymAEAoAEBqgEHZ3dzLXdpeg&sclient=psy-ab https://www.google.co.uk/search?sxsrf=ALeKk00J9KQR_SH1ZlvHgi... For me the top four links are clearly marked ads. (Although some people may miss that [ad] marker). After the ads there are two links to the proper gov.uk website. Then there's a link to a commercial site called "Deed Poll Office", who charge for a services that's free. In the past that TheDeedPollOffice link ranked higher. Similar things used to happen for passports and tax self assessment.

I just did an ingonito search for "!g ETA", I got 3 results on the screen CanadianTravel - ETA Ad·www.canadaonlineapplication.org/ CanadianTravel - ETA Ad·www.canadatravelvisa.com/ CanadaETA - for UK citiziens - canadian-etavisas.com Ad·www.canadian-etavisas.com/ Which all look the same, and seem to charge $99 for the 'service' of filling in a form the Canadian government charges $7 for. After that there is a wikipage for the Spanish terrorist group, two more wiki pages, then finally The official site: Electronic Travel Authorization (eTA): How to apply - Canada.ca Searching google for "Canada ETA" gives the above 3 adverts and also a link to https://www.etatocanada.com/ https://www.etatocanada.com/ which charges £69 for the service.

fastball 6y ago
So.... not a scam, in that you get exactly what you pay for. And certainly not phishing, which this article was talking about.
- Macha 6y ago
  How is this not a scam? The company is just presenting their form to ask for the same information, relaying it to the government, and charging you $90 for the privilege.
  - fastball 6y ago
    To me a scam involves paying money and then not getting anything for it. You get exactly what you pay for. These is just competing businesses / orgs vying for your custom, where one org (the govt) is charging $0, so you should totally use them, but won't if you're foolish. Regardless, one tiny example of all google results (goverment form services) is... the vast minority of google search results. It is certainly not "invariably" a scam.

DanBC 6y ago

In the UK there was a problem of commercial companies setting up look-alike websites and charging a fee to do stuff that is free to do via the correct gov website. It's not as common now, partly because UK orgs put pressure on Google to fix it. Here's an example: [change name deed poll] https://www.google.co.uk/search?sxsrf=ALeKk00J9KQR_SH1ZlvHgiu5F9t3Ymt2yg%3A1610900470220&source=hp&ei=9mMEYK__CuPogwfNs4joAg&q=change+name+by+deed+poll&oq=change+name+&gs_lcp=CgZwc3ktYWIQARgAMgUIABDJAzICCAAyAggAMgIIADICCAAyAggAMgIIADICCAAyAggAMgIIADoECCMQJzoICAAQsQMQgwE6CwguELEDEMcBEKMCOggILhCxAxCDAToOCC4QsQMQgwEQxwEQowI6AgguOgUIABCxAzoFCC4QsQM6CAgAELEDEMkDUKwLWOIYYL0taABwAHgAgAFfiAHjB5IBAjEymAEAoAEBqgEHZ3dzLXdpeg&sclient=psy-ab https://www.google.co.uk/search?sxsrf=ALeKk00J9KQR_SH1ZlvHgi... For me the top four links are clearly marked ads. (Although some people may miss that [ad] marker). After the ads there are two links to the proper gov.uk website. Then there's a link to a commercial site called "Deed Poll Office", who charge for a services that's free. In the past that TheDeedPollOffice link ranked higher. Similar things used to happen for passports and tax self assessment.