“Ignoring this notice will result in escalated penalties!”
Getting sick of the parking ticket scammers yet?
In between fake delivery updates from Fedex, a bogus 407 text telling me I need to avoid interest charges and a pretend Canada Post pestering me for a delivery I’m not expecting, I don’t know why I have a phone at all. The big scammers — the romance frauds, the grandchild-in-jail lowlifes — make the biggest headlines. But some are satisfied with taking many, many fish rather than trying to land a whale.
Back in June, Calgary was faced with some who did a little more footwork. Physical tickets were being tucked under wiper blades all over that city — and they really did look authentic. The twist — as always — is in the details. The website you’re directed to in order to ‘pay’ your ticket is not legitimate. But look at how subtle it is: the scammers direct you to CalgaryParkPlus.com (a fake site), while the legal site to pay legal tickets is calgaryparking.com/tickets or ParkingTickets.CalgaryParking.com. Close enough to trip people up.
What to do with a fake parking ticket
“If you identify a fake ticket, destroy it immediately and do NOT follow any instructions on it,” Calgary police advised. They asked people to report the fake tickets, and the headlines appeared to be working. Jaime Stopa (Media Relations, Calgary) says so far, “no additional parking scams have been reported this summer.”
Thieves are stepping up. Some are turning to better tech to better shake you down.
“With the latest advancements in technology, scammers have managed to get their hands on hand-held printers that are capable of making fake tickets…these tickets usually contain logos and city office names, as well as QR codes and instructions on how to pay them,” from a report from the U.S. Be honest: if you saw someone in an orange vest issuing parking tickets from a hand-held device, would you think twice about it?
While I have never successfully clicked on a QR code in my life, I’m aware they are a legitimate shortcut with many applications. They might also lend authenticity to something like a parking ticket. It’s easier to identify — and block — the phishing texts that flood my phone. I admit, they’re getting better. Fewer spelling and grammar errors (I had one that spelled Ontario wrong), though text scams look quaint against those Calgary tickets that sported infraction numbers, a city logo and a bylaw section.
The text scams are basic. Law enforcement says they do the most damage among seniors who may be less tech-savvy or new Canadians unfamiliar with how bylaws work and looking to avoid breaking rules. Most of the phishing scams don’t list a date, location or even a plate number, but they sure do like words like ‘severe’.
What can a scam look like?
Tһе ꓟіոіѕtrу оf ꓔrаոѕроrtаtіоո оf ꓳոtаrіо: ꓓеаr [my phone number],
ꓔһіѕ іѕ аո սrցеոt аոd fіոаꓲ ԝаrոіոց frоm tһе ꓟіոіѕtrу оf ꓔrаոѕроrtаtіоո оf ꓳոtаrіо rеցаrdіոց уоսr սոраіd раrkіոց tісkеt. ꓲf рауmеոt іѕ ոоt rесеіνеd bу ꓮսցսѕt 3, 2024, уоս ԝіꓲꓲ fасе tһе fоꓲꓲоԝіոց ѕеνеrе соոѕеզսеոсеѕ:
- ꓢіցոіfісаոt аddіtіоոаꓲ ꓲаtе fееѕ ԝіꓲꓲ bе іmроѕеd.
- ꓦеһісꓲе tоԝіոց аt уоսr ехреոѕе.
3.ꓡісеոѕе рꓲаtе rеոеԝаꓲ ԝіꓲꓲ bе bꓲосkеd սոtіꓲ tһе tісkеt іѕ раіd іո fսꓲꓲ.
4.ꓬоսr сrеdіt rаtіոց mау bе ոеցаtіνеꓲу аffесtеd dսе tо tһе սոраіd dеbt bеіոց rероrtеd tо сrеdіt аցеոсіеѕ.
- ꓡеցаꓲ асtіоո, іոсꓲսdіոց а соսrt ѕսmmоոѕ, ԝіꓲꓲ bе іոіtіаtеd, роtеոtіаꓲꓲу ꓲеаdіոց tо fսrtһеr fіոеѕ аոd ꓲеցаꓲ соѕtѕ.
ꓔһеѕе асtіоոѕ ԝіꓲꓲ bе tаkеո ԝіtһоսt fսrtһеr ոоtісе. ꓔо аνоіd tһеѕе ѕеνеrе реոаꓲtіеѕ, рꓲеаѕе рау tһе оսtѕtаոdіոց аmоսոt bу ꓮսցսѕt 3, 2024. ꓑауmеոtѕ саո bе mаdе оոꓲіոе аt ticket-ontario-unpaid.com.
A Toronto investigative agency posted the following under its Scam of the Week recently.
“Toronto-infractions: Your vehicle has been recorded by our speed monitoring camera exceeding the speed limit, going 42 km/h in a school zone. To settle this infraction without a court appearance, kindly visit https:// toronto-infractions.com before May 21, 2024.” You can see how something more specific, like this one, might make you pause. In a time of increased use of automated speed and traffic cameras, know that tickets from these devices still get to you in the old-fashioned way: in the mail.
Is your parking ticket real or is it a scam?
If you are in doubt, look up your city or province in an independent online search and find the parking department. You can check online or call them to check if you have outstanding tickets. Do not click on links in texts or emails, no matter how official they may appear. The same goes for incoming phone numbers that look legit: many of these numbers have been spoofed and you’re looking at a dummy. For the last year or so, when I put in the words (not the website) from the scammer-suggested websites, authentic government websites come up because the keywords are so close.
Talk to people in your life who might be vulnerable to these scams. Explain that Canadian governments do not text people demanding money. Seniors who may fall for something that seems official, teens who don’t want to get in trouble for a ticket they don’t remember getting, and even if you think you couldn’t be duped, do a little independent poking around to verify before you ever trust.
While text phishing scams are getting easier to ignore if only because of the sheer volume of them, physical tickets like those in Calgary and elsewhere are far more problematic. Just like car theft, the bad guys are always one step ahead — or three. If there is any doubt in your mind at all, contact the local governing body directly, and from a number you look up.
You just know this will all lend itself to a vicious loop. While there will be people who pay the bogus fines, there will be another contingent now conditioned to side-eye what might be a legitimate one. Real ticket, fake ticket, fake ticket, real ticket. This could devolve into a Sneetches moment from Dr. Seuss where nobody can tell the difference. It’s parking tickets instead of prejudice, but there’s a Sylvester McMonkey McBean behind all of it.
If you think scams only suck in the foolish or unwitting, read this report from the New York Times about a retired lawyer who lost $740,000 to criminals who convinced him he was participating in a government operation to take down…criminals. Parking ticket scams are small potatoes, but the methods they use are getting increasingly difficult to discern from legitimate agencies.
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