Will getting a refund from an ESTA scam site cause me to be blacklisted from the US?

Update: the Customs and Border Protection website now says:

You may also have a third party, such as a relative or travel agent, pay the associated fees for each application. CBP is not responsible for third party fees. Your application will not be submitted for processing until all payment information is received.

Apparently they currently have no problem with these third party sites handling your payments – the advice given before implied that these sites were violating the CBP’s terms of service. The FAQ’s now additionally say:

I have seen other websites that are assisting travelers in applying for their ESTA application. Is there a benefit to using one of these other sites?

No. Use of a private service to apply for travel authorization via ESTA will not expedite approval. Third party websites that provide information about ESTA submit ESTA applications for VWP travelers are not endorsed by, associated with, or affiliated in any way with DHS or the U.S. government.

and

There are third-party entities already working in VWP countries that charge a processing fee to assist travelers in completing the ESTA online form. The implementation of a government-based fee for ESTA is likely going to result in additional confusion to [… truncated]

The Department of Homeland Security worked with the travel and tourism industry to inform international travelers that the original ESTA program online application form was free. DHS and industry will continue to promote the official U.S. government ESTA website and discourage travelers from using the third-party organizations to complete the easy ESTA application. This will increase the likelihood that VWP travelers will know where to find the correct internet address for the official U.S. government ESTA website and that the only ESTA fees required will be those collected during the online application process.

This new advice places the earlier advice into the context of having been cheated. The directions and implications remain the same – only use the official site – and if you don’t and get charged extra, you may dispute it – but it could jeopardize your travels.

The official US Government site recommends disputing the amount over $14, (in spite of doing so jeopardizing your future visits):

https://help.cbp.gov/app/answers/detail/a_id/1164/kw/esta/p/0/c/0

I’ve been charged more than $14 for submitting my ESTA application,
what should I do?

There are a number of third parties that have established websites
that charge a fee for submitting your application on your behalf. If
you have used one of these third party sites, we strongly suggest you
use your reference number to confirm with the official U.S.
government site to ensure that your ESTA is in our system. We
recommend you do this because we have no way of knowing if the
information passed through the third party website to us is accurate.
If it is not, you may have a problem when you arrive in the U.S.

…

CBP cannot refund the money you paid to a third party website, however
if you think you have been victimized, contact your bank or credit
card company and request a refund of any amount over the $14.00
required by the U.S. government by disputing the add-on charges on
your statement.

In standard grey on dark blue text at the bottom of the scammer’s front page: "Legal Disclaimer: ESTA.US is a private information website not affiliated with the United States Government." Whether it really creates any value for anyone is questionable, but a sucker is born every minute. The official website is good enough for government work: https://esta.cbp.dhs.gov/esta but it looks like a phishing url – the fake site looks even more official/professional.

The US Government site seems to back the idea that these people are being scammed and that these sites create no additional value. I hope he gets his money back by disputing the amount over $14.

How exactly can he prevent the scammer from reacting to the partial
chargeback by submitting their own chargeback to the $14 they
forwarded to the government? The site says bad things will happen "if
the $14.00 charge submitted to the U.S. government is refunded" but
provides no information on how to prevent that from happening

I am not a lawyer, but I have some business law training. What I would presume, based on the context, is that the intermediary opens the account pretending to be the individual, which is against the terms of service of the US Government site.

If the intermediary attempts to charge-back to the government, the issue would seem to be between the intermediary and the government, since the applicant has followed the government’s advice.

I think it very unlikely that the government, knowing that there exists this bad-faith intermediary, and providing advice, would then penalize an applicant for following its advice. However, see the response below – it appears our short-sighted government bureaucrats would rather you save your $17 and jeopardize your future visits than visit, inject money in our economy, and create jobs.

I have submitted this question to the government’s official site. We’ll see what they say, after they’ve had a few weeks to respond.

Here’s their email response:

Response Via Email (CBP ESTA Officer) 09/01/2015 02:05 PM Hello,

If the company you used to submit the ESTA cancels the fee with ESTA
after you cancel the charge with them this will create a charge back.

If you were charged more than $14 USD per application, you have gone
to a third party web site. A third party business charges a fee to
submit an ESTA application on your behalf to the official website.
These businesses and web sites requesting additional fees are not
endorsed by, associated with, or affiliated in any way with Department
of Homeland Security or the United States Government. If there is a
disclaimer indicating the site is not affiliated to the U. S.
government, there is no action the U. S. government can take. The
official US Government ESTA web site is:
https://esta.cbp.dhs.gov/esta

CBP cannot refund the money you paid to a third party website. However
if you think you have been victimized, contact your bank or credit
card company and request a refund of any amount over the $14.00
required by the U.S. government by disputing the add-on charges on
your statement.

However, please keep in mind that any payment stoppage to the ESTA
application fee payment transaction with your bank or credit card that
may inadvertently result in a withdrawal of the fee for any of your
previous ESTA applications – will cause an automatic denial of your
current ESTA. The account will then be posted as a "chargeback” and
incomplete account. This means that you will NO LONGER be able to
re-apply for a new ESTA and all subsequent ESTA applications will be
denied.

You can continue to monitor the application up until the date of
travel to see if it continues to be approved. If you wish to apply for
a new ESTA to feel at ease you can also do this; the decision is
completely yours to make and we cannot advise you one way or the
other.

To monitor your application use these instructions:

Please go to this site https://esta.cbp.dhs.gov/esta/

1. Scroll to the bottom of the page and click on the "Retrieve
   Application" button on the right hand side (Gray box with Black
   Letters)
2. Click on the "Retrieve One Application" button on the
   left hand side (Gray box with Black Letters)
3. Put your passport
   number
4. Put your Birth Date
5. Put the application number you
   received in the left side (I know the application number) YOU DO NOT
   need to fill out the information on the right side if you know the
   application number – if you do not know the application number then
   you will have to fill out the information on the right side.
6. Click
   on Continue

Respectfully, ESTA PMO

And they have further marked the matter as "solved":

Question Reference #150901-001607
Topic Level 1: ESTA / Visa Waiver
Program Topic Level 2: I am having computer/payment issues.
Date Created: 09/01/2015 11:52 AM
Last Updated: 09/01/2015 02:05 PM
Status: Solved

At the beginning of the email, which I received the same day,

Recently you requested personal assistance from our on-line support
center. Below is a summary of your request and our response.

If this issue is not resolved to your satisfaction, you may reopen it
within the next 7 days.

Thank you for allowing us to be of service to you.

Perhaps someone else can get further with this bureaucracy than I can, given my limited time.

He’d like to dispute the credit card charge, get his money back and
try again via the official site

Card disputes are for unauthorized fraudulent charges not purchases. If your friend authorized the purchase and further received the goods I don’t see any standing on which he could dispute the charge.

Your friend’s situation is the same as someone who bought something at a local store for $X, and then found it cheaper online and now wants to get the money back, so they can buy it for a cheaper price.

I would not risk possible consequences over $17 and instead chalk this up to an experience and move on; especially considering that you risk losing your dispute claim and then are flagged for that.