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!
I really appreciate how honest this post is, it’s a perfect reminder that awareness doesn’t equal immunity.