So I Got Scammed (Kind Of)

Not breaking the bank, but it did give me a wake-up call.

A few months ago, I was planning for a trip to a different country, and I got scammed.

It’s embarrassing, especially as a software engineer. Handling security issues and internet dark patterns is part of my job.

The Application

To enter that country, I needed an entry permit, which can be obtained online. It costs about $8 through the government website. It’s supposed to be a quick, simple process.

But I was quite distracted and just wanted to get it over with. So I Googled “entry permit” and clicked on one of the first results.

That’s when things went wrong.

The site looked legit. Honestly, I had no idea what the official site should look like. Clean design, official-sounding text, and a form asking for the usual personal details. Nothing seemed off.

Then I saw the fee: $80. And a processing time of 7–10 days. That felt a little strange, but I didn’t think too much about it. I filled everything out and paid the fee.

The Wake-Up Moment

Later, I told my wife that the visa would take about a week to process.

She said “Great. And that’s eight dollars right?”

“Eighty dollars,” I said.

She gave me that look. The kind that instantly tells you something’s wrong. And that’s when it hit me: I’d just paid ten times the actual fee 😱 to an agency, not the government.

I rushed back to the website, read the fine print, and confirmed it. Yep. I’d fallen into another internet dark pattern. There’s a small text at the bottom of the site, saying:

We are an agency applying on your behalf to the government.

Fortunately, they offered a refund, not full, but partial. They kept some of it as a “processing fee.” Annoying, but at least I got most of it back.

The bad news is that the agency now have all my personal information, which I gave away willingly 🤦

The Lesson

What made it worse? I’m a software engineer. I should know better. I pay attention to phishing emails, dark patterns, and shady websites all the time. And yet, I still fell for this.

This is a reminder for myself, and for those who might need it, too. I assumed that I was too smart to fall for this, and that arrogance tricked me. I didn’t cross-check information across two or three sites for accuracy. I did’t stop when things felt off.

Luckily, it didn’t break the bank. It’s a great reminder to slow down, and pay a little more attention to the details.

Hope everyone have a great day!