Beware of dodgy ULEZ sites advertising on Google

Which? is warning drivers to beware of websites claiming to allow you to pay the ULEZ charge, after Transport for London (TfL) confirmed that it doesn’t use third-party organisations for payments.

The Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) was introduced in 2019 to tackle London’s polluted air. As part of this, when you drive through any London borough, you must pay a £12.50 daily charge unless your vehicle is exempt.

Search queries on Google for ‘pay ULEZ charge’ have been found to generate sponsored search results for websites that aren’t affiliated with TfL. Using a third party could leave you out of pocket with charges still unpaid, or you could find you've handed over your details to scammers. 

In 2023, Which? was alerted to several scam ULEZ charge websites that had conned people into overpaying for the charge and signed them up for recurring payments. 

Below, we explain how you can spot and avoid these websites.

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Dodgy ULEZ ads

Ads labelled ‘pay for clean air online,' ‘pay the emission charge now,’ and ‘pay to drive in London’ appeared at the top of Google’s search results.

Several adverts were posted by eight different advertisers. Five of them were verified, meaning they’ve submitted documentation as part of Google’s verification checks. Three were not verified.

We shared our findings with Google, and it said: 'Protecting users is our top priority, and we have strict ads policies that govern the types of ads and advertisers we allow on our platforms.

'We enforce our policies vigorously, and if we find ads that are in violation, we remove them.

'We continue to invest significant resources to stop bad actors, and we are constantly evaluating and updating our policies and improving our technology to keep our users safe.'

Unofficial ULEZ websites

The adverts Which? found were linked to five websites claiming to process ULEZ charges.

One of them did include a disclaimer stating that it's not affiliated with TfL and adds a £5 service charge to the fee you pay. Two of the websites led to the official TfL payment page, possibly indicating that the advert was set up to earn advertising revenue. The other three websites weren't accessible at the time of writing.

Which? came across several reviews for two of the websites, in which people claimed they were overcharged for ULEZ payments. Some complained of being charged £17.50, or even as much as £35, and not being able to get a refund. Other reviewers mentioned that the website they used to try to pay the charge had no contact details for disputing charges.

Other reviews stated that they made payments to the websites but then contacted TfL and discovered that these payments had not been processed. Some reported that they'd then received fines from TfL over unpaid charges.

What does TfL say?

Which? asked TfL about the legitimacy of these websites. It said: ‘Payments for our road user charging schemes should only be made through the official Transport for London website. Unfortunately, internet search engines don’t always suggest the official TfL Pay to Drive web page at the top of their search results.

'This means that people may be offered a link to an unofficial payment site, which can often overcharge or not process the payment at all.

'TfL has no association with third-party organisations that process charges, and we work proactively with search engine companies such as Google, as well as with Advertising Standards and Trading Standards, to remove them entirely from the internet. We advise drivers who have been impacted by overcharging by a third-party site to contact Trading Standards.’

You can pay ULEZ charges using TfL’s official website here.

Spotting dodgy ads and websites

• Visit the 'home', 'about us' and 'terms and conditions' pages and read the text there. It may claim that the site is not affiliated with the official body.
• Check the website address carefully to see if it matches that of the official website - for example, any website claiming to be an official government website should have a .gov.uk address.
• On pages where you're entering personal information, ‘https://’ indicates that there's encryption in place to protect your personal details, as opposed to ‘http://’. However, it’s not always a guarantee.
• Make sure you visit the official websites and search for services on there instead of using Google. For example, you can access most important and official documents by searching on gov.uk.
• Look at reviews to see what other users of that website are experiencing. 

If you've given your card details to a third-party website, contact your bank immediately to block any recurring payments. You should also ask your card provider to refund the charge – use our tool to help you lodge a Section 75 or chargeback claim with your card provider.

If you lose any money to a scam, call your bank immediately using the number on the back of your bank card. Also report it to Action Fraud, or call the police on 101 if you’re in Scotland.