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Bogus online visa website rips off visitors to SL
Visitors to the country are being ripped off by at least one and possibly more foreign based websites offering online entry visas and immigration services for a fee that is some 200% more than the stipulated government fee, and the authorities can do nothing to stop it, an official said yesterday.
“These sites are in operation and nothing can be done to eliminate them,” Immigration & Emigration Chief, M.N. Ranasinghe told the Sunday Times.
“The stipulated Government fee is US$ 35 or Rs 4,600, while these websites offer their services for US$ 99 or Rs 13,000, which is not good for the image of the country,” Mr Ranasinghe said.
“I have already taken up the matter with the regulatory authorities, but they too are unable to put an end to this practice owing to the complexity of the issue,” he said.
He added that travel and tour operators have also been informed of the scam and asked to take necessary precautions by informing their clients and other stakeholders within the industry.
“These websites have been in operation for the past several months and are registered as companies in foreign countries,” he said.
According to Mr. Ranasinghe, the modus operandi of these operators is simple in nature.“Once they net a client, all they have to do is feed the necessary information into the official website of Sri Lanka Immigration and obtain the relevant visa, paying the stipulated fee of US$ 30.”
“The rest is a clean profit to the web operators and the traveler is unaware that he/she has been defrauded, and the story ends there,” he explained.
He added that these web operators were not only targeting individual travelers, but in certain cases entire holiday groups, mainly from Europe.
“At the moment we have no control over them, but plans are afoot to launch an online warning and advise those intending to visit the country.
“The official website of the government is www.eta.gov.lk. However, a fake site comes on top in a Google search and deceives the intended visitor into believe it as the official website of the Sri Lanka Government,” Mr. Ranasinghe explained.
“One such fake website located in England and Wales is known as ETA Srilanka with the following address-www.eta-srilanka.com, and visitors are advised to take serious note of this,” he said.
“This is a matter the relevant authorities must look into at the very earliest. They could start off by alerting our overseas Missions and for them to take it up with the relevant governments,” Travel Agents Association of Sri Lanka (TAASL) President, S. Paramanathan told the Sunday Times.