A traveler transiting through Istanbul Airport got scammed out of over $300 when a fake Turkish e-visa website—differing from the official government site by just one letter in the URL—charged them but never delivered visas.
The incident, shared on r/travel, serves as a stark warning about increasingly sophisticated travel document scams that can fool even careful travelers.
The Nearly Perfect Fake
The victim was stuck at Istanbul Airport when their connection flight was delayed by 25-27 hours. The airline offered a hotel stay, but the family needed e-visas to leave the airport.
"I looked up online and the first website was https://evisa.govn.tr/official/en-us/," they wrote. "The website and url looked fairly official (I know my fault) but literally the only difference between the official url and this one is single N in front of .gov."
The subtle difference: evisa.govn.tr (fake) versus evisa.gov.tr (official).
The scam site charged approximately $101 per person—well above the legitimate fee—but never delivered the visas, leaving the family stranded at the airport with no hotel option.
How the Scam Works
The fake site appears to use the .govn.tr domain to create an air of legitimacy. At a glance, especially when stressed and in a hurry, it looks like a government website. The scammers have clearly invested in making the site appear authentic, likely copying design elements from the real portal.
Crucially, the fake site appears to have strong SEO placement—the victim found it as "the first website" in search results. This suggests the scammers are using search engine optimization or paid advertising to push their fraudulent site above the legitimate one.
The $300+ Question: Can They Get Their Money Back?
The traveler paid by debit card and asked whether there's Options include:
