Drivers warned of the 'only official way' to avoid 'really concerning' Ulez scam
Thousands of extra drivers are now expected to pay the Ulez daily charge
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Drivers have been issued warnings over scammers trying to trick people into thinking that they can pay for the Ulez scheme using fake websites.
The Ultra Low Emission Zone expanded to include all of Greater London at the end of August, with the most polluting petrol and diesel vehicles being charged £12.50 to drive in the area.
When searching for Ulez payment information on Google, some of the promoted links may advertise fake websites looking to scam drivers with hundreds of thousands of additional motorists looking to pay the charge.
London Mayor Sadiq Khan has confirmed that Transport for London is not associated with any third-party websites accepting Ulez payments.
The Ulez expansion took place on August 29
PA
Further warnings are given on the TfL website, with motorists urged to steer clear of websites claiming to help with the payment of the Ulez daily charge.
There have been some services promoting themselves to offer motorists the chance to get a “Ulez exemption” for a one-time payment.
These are scams and experts are urging motorists to stay away from these websites, as well as ignoring any scam texts and emails.
Ryan Fulthorpe, motoring expert for Go.Compare, said it was “really concerning” that scammers were targeting drivers as soon as the Ulez was expanding.
He added: “The easiest and safest way to pay is through the Transport for London official website, but you can also pay over the phone or if you are regularly driving within ULEZ you could use the TFL Pay to Drive in London app, which allows you to check if a postcode is in a charging zone, set up Auto Pay and pay a penalty.
“In light of these recent scams, what is really important is to double-check whether you have to pay and who you are paying before you press that button to pay.
“Check your details with TfL to confirm that you should pay, if you do then it is important to remember that the only official way to pay online is through the TfL website.”
If someone has mistakenly paid a scammer thinking that it was the Ulrz charge, they can still be fined by TfL for non-payment of the £12.50 charge.
In addition to losing money to the scammer, drivers could be hit with a penalty charge of £180 if they have not paid the actual TfL charge, although this will drop to £90 if paid within 14 days.
Ryan Fulthorpe continued, saying: “Unfortunately, scammers are using increasingly sophisticated websites to trick people into parting with their money, even creating copycat websites that look like the official TfL one.
“If you’re still not sure, just call up and make the payment directly to TfL, as you are allowed to pay the penalty for three days after travelling in a ULEZ zone.
“If you have been scammed by a third-party site, TFL is encouraging people to contact Trading Standards.”
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Sadiq Khan confirmed that TfL is not associated with any third-party websites accepting Ulez payments.
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If drivers think they have been scammed, they can contact Action Fraud at actionfraud.police.uk.