Want to buy something that is not for sale? Scammers have a deal for you. Do not pay anyone for an ETIAS: the European travel permit that scam sites are peddling is not even open for business, and that is the whole ETIAS scam.
USA TODAY reported on October 31 that fake websites are charging travelers steep fees for an ETIAS, the European Union’s new travel authorization. The catch is that ETIAS does not work yet. The EU is not accepting applications, so anyone claiming to hand you an approved one is misleading you, according to The Portugal News.
ETIAS vs. EES: Why Travelers Fall for the ETIAS Scam
Blame the alphabet soup. The EU is rolling out two separate border programs for non-EU travelers, and the names are close enough to trip up a lot of people.
The first is the Entry/Exit System, or EES. It is real and it is running. It replaces manual passport stamps by scanning and storing your face and fingerprints at the border, both coming and going. The European Commission says EES became fully operational on April 10, 2026. As of the Commission’s March update, it had recorded more than 45 million border crossings and refused entry to over 24,000 people. Border security is serious business in Europe right now, as the crowds at a Paris NFL game after protests showed.
The second is ETIAS, the pre-trip authorization. It is a different thing entirely, and it has not launched.
That confusion is exactly what fake ETIAS websites exploit.
“The easiest way to tell them apart is that EES confirms who you are at the border during entry and exit,” said Konstantin Lange, chief operating officer at iVisa. He added that “the biggest mistake people make is thinking they have to apply for something that isn’t active yet.” One caveat: iVisa sells travel-document services, so he is not a neutral voice.
What ETIAS Fraud Sites Look Like
Scammers built the fake ETIAS pages to look official. The Portugal News, citing The Guardian, says there are reportedly more than 150 third-party sites claiming to help with applications. Many mimic the official EU site and ask for your passport details and a credit card. That Guardian figure is secondhand and we have not independently confirmed it.
It gets messier. Money reports that the EU will eventually allow legitimate commercial intermediaries to file ETIAS applications for travelers, possibly for extra fees. So not every third-party site will be a fraud once the system opens.
Right now, though, no company can get you an ETIAS because there is nothing to get.
Here’s the Thing for U.S. Travelers
This one lands in your wallet. Americans are visa-exempt in Europe, which means ETIAS will apply to you once it launches. Officials expect the permit to cover trips to 30 European countries. Per Money, they also expect to exempt travelers under 18 and over 70 from the fee.
So when does it start? Nobody knows. Immigration firm Fragomen says the launch date is unclear and the official EU site shows no proposed start. EU authorities say they will announce a date several months ahead, and Fragomen reports a six-month transition period when travelers can enter without authorization. Trouble keeping EES running at every border may be part of the delay. Either way, every Europe travel permit scam depends on you believing the clock has already started.
How to Protect Your Wallet From the ETIAS Scam
Keep it simple:
- Do not pay for an ETIAS today. You cannot apply for one.
- When it opens, there will be a single official website and app. Travelbinger lists travel-europe.europa.eu/etias as the only official source.
- Be suspicious of any site that promises “guaranteed approval,” rushes you, or charges well above the official fee.
- Never hand over passport and card details to a site you reached through an ad.
Online fakes are not limited to travel, either. Even fake nuclear alerts hit Ukraine and Russia through a hacked emergency app, so a little skepticism goes a long way.
The EU may still be working out its own paperwork. The scammers, meanwhile, have it all figured out.
