Avoid scams: US warns travelers, lists common tricks fraudsters use

The United States Department of State has issued a warning to Americans regarding unofficial websites that offer passport renewal services. Many of these sites impersonate government portals, charging extra fees for services that are available for free through official channels.

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Don’t fall for third-party scams. If you need to renew your passport, go to the official site: http://travel.state.gov/renew.

The department explained that some third-party websites are designed to mimic official government pages but are operated by private businesses. These entities often charge applicants additional fees to process or submit passport renewal forms, which can be accessed directly from the U.S. government at no extra cost. The State Department emphasized that travel.state.gov is the sole official website for U.S. passport renewals.

To help citizens avoid these scams, the department advised verifying that any government website address ends in ".gov". Websites with addresses ending in ".com", ".us", or ".org" are not operated by the U.S. government and may charge users for services they can obtain free of charge. Using these unofficial platforms also means sharing sensitive personal information with private companies lacking official affiliation with the U.S. government.

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The best way to know that you’re on the official U.S. Department of State site is to look for ‘.gov’ at the end of the url.

In a post on X, the U.S. Department of State reiterated the warning: "Don’t fall for third-party scams. If you need to renew your passport, go to the official site: http://travel.state.gov/renew." The department stressed that looking for ".gov" at the end of the URL is the best way to confirm an official U.S. Department of State site. They further cautioned against sites ending in ".com", ".us", or ".org", stating they are not government sites and may charge more for simply providing forms or submitting applications.

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Do not be fooled by sites ending in ‘.com’, ‘.us’, or ‘.org’ – they are NOT government sites and may charge you more to simply provide forms from our site or send us your application.