A number of fraudulent clone websites have been identified mimicking the official website to book appointments for the Technical Inspection of Vehicles (ITV) in the Valencian Community.
The system recently became centralised and now has a portal for booking appointments for the ITV inspection, the official website being sitval.com, which links to the official booking platform website, citaitvstival.com
Please check that you are using these official websites to access the platform, and no other variation of spelling or extension, such as .net for example.
A warning has appeared on the official page, saying, “Dear client, remember that sitval.com and its own online reservation system citaitvsitval.com are the only channels to reserve and pay for your appointment. Avoid fraudulent pages”.
These fraudulent pages are demanding payment of 20 euro for appointment management, which has led the Ministry of Innovation, Industry, Trade and Tourism to warn of the new fraud.
“We have noticed that some pages that ask for money to book (ITV appointments) have cloned the new page. We understand that it is a fraud. We remind you that there is only one official page to pay and get an appointment (sitval.com) and we will report anyone who tries to impersonate Sitval,” said the Ministry headed by Nuria Montes.
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Problems on the web
The new website designed to facilitate the booking and payment of appointments was launched with the intention of streamlining the service and reducing possible fraud. However, in less than 48 hours since its launch, cases of identity theft had already been reported. The Ministry has confirmed the closure of other fraudulent sites it has been made aware of, such as sitval.net, but others may be masquerading unknown.
Vicente Inglada, secretary general of the Union of Consumers (UC) of the Valencian Community, has denounced that his organisation has received complaints from users who have been deceived. In some stations, such as Vara de Quart, cases have been reported of people offering appointments in person in exchange for 20 euro.
Warnings
The authorities have stressed that the only official platform for managing and paying for appointments is sitval.com. “We cannot pursue those who charge for passing the ITV, as it is a legitimate service, but we can act against identity theft,” explained sources from the Ministry of Industry. This type of fraud is worrying because the new website now allows advance payment, which can confuse less attentive users.
The new platform had technical problems at its launch. However, by Wednesday afternoon the system had stabilised and is now operational. The Generalitat is confident that, over time, the service will become normalised, and more appointments will be offered to users.
Improvements in appointment management
One of the main problems with the appointment system is that about 15% of people who booked did not show up for their appointment. In the first half of the year, around 900,000 vehicles were inspected, which means that about 100,000 appointments were missed.
The Generalitat has decided to increase the number of inspections assigned to the ITV stations: Valencia will be the province with the largest reinforcement, with 121 inspections starting this summer. The arrival of 59 inspectors in Alicante and 23 in Castellón is expected. This increase in staff aims to compensate for absences caused by the holidays and improve customer service.
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