Visitors requesting an e-visa for Cambodia are warned to check the website of the Cambodian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of Cambodia. There are fake websites promoted and tourists are losing money paid to fraudsters.
The ministry warned to only use its official website as there.
Bogus websites include cambodiaimmigration.org, which charged one unsuspecting tourist $300 – falsely claiming to be able to obtain e-visas for visitors to the Kingdom.
One British national complained to the Cambodian Embassy in London about the excessive cost of an e-visa after they were charged $90 by such a website, which is far in excess of the ministry’s pricing. According to the ministry’s an application for an e-visa for tourists should be made at evisa.gov.kh. An e-visa is valid for three months and costs $36.
The ministry released a letter in 2017 saying it had found 17 websites that fraudulently sell e-visas to tourists at a price far in excess of the true cost on the ministry’s website.
Tho Samnang, an official at the Legal and Consular Department at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, told local media that those behind the fraudulent websites used a sophisticated system to defraud users.
When applicants typed in the words “Cambodia” and “e-visa”, the browser shows fake websites that have paid to be shown first in the results, he said. With the applicant unaware the sites are bogus, they register, complete the form and then send payment.
A member of staff at a Phnom Penh tourism company said she was unaware of websites offering e-visas, saying only the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and its official website could comment on this situation.
