The Marion County Recorder’s Office is reminding local citizens of ongoing passport scams.

People in the local community and nationwide are falling victim to a scam where individuals go to a third party site to apply for a passport, and in return, are being taken for sometimes hundreds of dollars. Passport forms are always free and there are sites that pose as the official government passport website and charge extra fees just to pass on information or they just pocket the money after taking information. The only official website for passport forms and information is travel.state.gov. Marion County Recorder Naomi Ellis says she has had customers fall victim to this and that citizens should also make sure they are selecting the right Marion County when making an appointment.

“We’ve had some customers come in who have been on other websites and have paid money for applications. Passport applications are always free and also people have gone to the wrong website, they’ve typed in Marion County and Marion County Florida pops up and they make an appointment in Marion County Florida and not Marion County Iowa so we just want people to be aware of what the official passport website is as well as making sure when they’re searching for Marion County that they are in fact looking for Marion County Iowa.”

The Marion County Recorder’s Office can help with anything passport related and they are located on the second floor of the courthouse. Other information can be found here. Hear more from Ellis and Passport Agent Cari Morgan on an upcoming Let’s Talk Knoxville.