Fake passport websites are charging travelers for free services

(InvestigateTV) — Travelers rushing to renew a passport before an international trip may be vulnerable to scam websites designed to take advantage of that urgency, according to the Better Business Bureau.Josh Planos, a spokesperson for the Better Business Bureau, said the pressure to receive a passport quickly often drives people toward risky shortcuts.“In nearly every case, somebody is under the gun and needs to turn around a passport within a matter of weeks and wants to look for every alternative to ensure that it gets to the front doorstep in an adequate amount of time,” Planos said.Planos said fraudulent websites promise fast turnaround times, then take travelers’ money without ever delivering a passport.“A lot of folks are turning to websites that really have nothing to do with the government URL, travel.state.gov,” Planos said. “They are looking for third-party sites that charge those expedition fees, and those are really major red flags.”The official passport application is fre