London Daily News echoed ABTA’s concerns on 14 October, publishing a consumer alert that urges UK residents not to hand over money to websites purporting to sell an ETIAS authorisation. The article explains that no official application channel exists and that the European Union has set no revised launch date after abandoning its previous end-2026 target. Italy features prominently because it ranks among the top three EU destinations for British leisure and business travel. Fraudsters have therefore tailored advertising keywords such as “ETIAS Italy fast-track” and “Italian visa waiver” to capture search traffic. Cyber-security firm Darktrace told the paper that automated ‘form-farming’ bots are harvesting passport numbers to resell on dark-web marketplaces for between US$40 and US$60 per identity. The warning outlines the eventual rules—€20 fee, validity for three years, mandatory even for fee-exempt minors and seniors—while stressing that none of these requirements apply today. Travellers are advised to rely on official EU and Italian government channels and to watch for an EU-hosted domain ending ‘.europa.eu’ once the system finally opens. Corporate travel departments with frequent Italy rotations should circulate the alert through internal booking portals and update chatbot scripts to flag any ETIAS-related query as “not yet live”. Failure to do so risks employees falling victim to phishing sites, potentially exposing corporate card data and confidential passport scans.
Source: London Daily News
