Kent Police and Thanet council have issued warnings about a parking ticket scam.
There have been several reports of people receiving texts, purportedly from Thanet council, to say they have to pay a parking charge within 14 days and failure to pay could result in prosecution. A link is then given to find more ‘information.’
However, the texts are a scam.
A message from Kent Police’s Prevent and Protect Team says: “We have had several reports of the parking fine, commonly known as a penalty charge notice, being received via text message, it is a SCAM.
“Do not click on the link, as it is designed to take you to a realistic looking website under the control of the criminals, where they will look to steal your personal and financial data.
“If you are not sure if a text message is genuine, then always apply our Scam Awareness message ABC, which is never Assume or Believe a message is genuine but always Confirm. In other words, contact the sender by using a trusted phone number.
“You can report Scam text messages by forwarding to 7726.
“If you think that you may have been a victim of this or any other type of scam, then contact your Bank immediately, which you can do by calling 159 and report it to Action Fraud at www.actionfraud.police.uk or call 0300 123 2040.”
Thanet council has also posted a message to its facebook page to warn residents of the scam.
TDC says: “We never send text messages with a link asking people to pay their parking fines, officially known as Penalty Charge Notices or PCNs.
“This is a scam and it has been reported to the police.”
