Parking fine text scam warning

Trading standards service is warning motorists to be on their guard against a parking fine text scam doing the rounds.

Heart of the South West Trading Standards Service issued the warning after some residents reported receiving a scam message.

The message issues a fake ‘final reminder’ about an ‘outstanding toll’ and provides a link to make a payment – but it doesn’t give any further details of when or where the ‘offence’ took place or even the council which supposedly issued the fine.

Janet Quinn, the scams lead for Heart of the South West Trading Standards Service said the aim of the message was to steal personal and financial information. 

She added: “In this case there are a number of pointers that show it’s a scam

“It’s generic, the grammar, spelling and wording is poor and uses words such as ‘toll’ and not fine or penalty charge notice which is what you would expect if this was a genuine reminder.

“It also gives strange instructions such as telling you to reply, then close and re-open the message to activate the link.

“So, if you get a message like this, always think, could it be a scam? And don’t click on the link.”

“Remember, you will be get notified about a parking fine by a ticket on your car or a letter in the post, never by a text message.”

She highlighted some other tell-tale signs to help you spot that a text could be scam:

▪️It’s generic, not addressed to you by name
▪️Poor grammar/spelling/wording.
▪️The sender number is unknown to you and maybe outside of the UK
▪️It’s vague and there are no details about what it relates to.
▪️It makes you worry
▪️You’re asked to click a strange link.
▪️It tells you to take action straight away.
▪️Your phone warns you that it could be junk.

If you live in Devon and receive a message like this and are concerned if it is genuine, contact your local council using the details you find on their website – district councils are generally responsible for car parks and parking on roads is our responsibility.

You can email us at: parkingservices@devon.gov.uk  or call us on 0345 155 1004.

If the message comes from a ‘.gov’ source, it is a scam.

Where we charge for on-street parking you can use RingGo to make a payment. However, we’ve been advised by RingGo, that QR codes, often in the form of ‘stickers’, have been appearing at Pay and Display locations in the South West.

These are not valid codes – do not use them to make a payment for parking at any Devon County Council location. Use the RingGo app or phone number.
For more information about staying safe from scams you can find more information our trading standards website.

Report a scam text by forwarding it to 7726