- Anyone with a parking ticket should double-check before making any online payments.
- These fake citations lead users to fraudulent websites that ask for their banking details.
- Similar incidents have been reported in multiple cities across North America.
A clever new phishing scam is making the rounds in North American cities, using fake parking tickets to trick unsuspecting drivers into handing over their banking information. It’s a new low, even for lowlifes.
The fake tickets are slipped under the windshield wipers of parked vehicles, and look alarmingly realistic, making it easy for their owners to fall right into the trap. One example was spotted in Calgary, Canada, prompting the city’s parking authority uploading it on X in an effort to warn the public.
The phony ticket has the Calgary Parking logo printed on it, along with the date of the supposed parking violation, and the requested penalty. While they seem convincing at first glance, a closer look reveals the web address as “calgaryparkplus.com,” a subtle but crucial difference from the official sites “calgaryparking.com/tickets” and “parkingtickets.calgaryparking.com.”
By typing their personal banking details on a made-up website, drivers unknowingly hand over their information to scammers, who can then steal their money. Calgary Parking has urged its customers to immediately destroy the phony tickets, and not follow the instructions printed on them.
According to the Identity Theft Resource Center, fake parking ticket scams have been reported across the US. The national non-profit acknowledges that these tickets appear disturbingly real, with scammers sourcing citation envelopes and handheld printers online. Some even include QR codes on the citations, making it harder for victims to spot the fraudulent web addresses.
Experts urge drivers to scrutinize the wording for signs of fraud, and not rely on the website that’s printed on the citation. A better approach is to look up your license plates directly on the official websites of local parking authorities. This ensures that any parking ticket in your hands is legitimate before you risk sharing sensitive information online.
