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Look-alike sites and how to avoid being scammed

How to tell a real ESTA service from a fake one, and what we will never ask you for.

ESTA attracts fraud, because travellers are in a hurry and the official process is unfamiliar. A few checks protect you, whether you use us or anyone else.

There is one official site

The only official government application site is https://esta.cbp.dhs.gov. Anything else, including us, is a private service. Any site claiming to be the government while charging a service fee is lying to you.

What we will never do

  • Ask for your card details by email, by WhatsApp or by phone

  • Contact you from a personal phone number

  • Tell you your ESTA is about to be cancelled unless you pay immediately

  • Promise you an approval, or offer to influence a decision for extra money

  • Ask for your bank login, or for a payment by transfer, gift card or cryptocurrency

Our only WhatsApp number is +1 877 713 1179 and our email address is [email protected].

Signs of a fake service

  • Pressure and countdowns: your authorization expiring today, one slot left, immediate action required

  • A price that is only revealed after you have entered your passport details

  • No company name, no legal terms, no way to contact a person

  • Claims of an official partnership with the US government

  • A guarantee that your application will be approved

If you think you paid the wrong site

  1. Contact your bank and explain what happened.

  2. Do not send the site any further information, especially not a passport photo.

  3. Change any password you reused on that site.

  4. Check https://esta.cbp.dhs.gov, or your tracking area with us, to see whether a real application exists at all.

If a message claims to be from us

Check the address or the number it came from against the ones above. If anything looks off, do not reply to it. Forward it to us and we will tell you whether it was really us.

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