County council warns of parking penalty scam doing the rounds again in Lincolnshire
A scam trying to get money fraudulently via text messages about parking fines has raised its head again in Lincolnshire, according to the county council.
The council says it has been told by several Lincolnshire people from all corners of the county that they have recently text messages with wording along the lines of ‘Parking Penalty Charge Notice’ claiming that an outstanding parking ticket is due to be paid.
It warns of an increase of 50 per cent to pay if the PCN fine is not paid within 28 days, and that the receiver of the text will be prosecuted and may also face court costs.
But the authority insists: “It's all nonsense. It's fake. It's not real.”
If you, or anyone you know, is sent one of these messages then you are advised to ignore it. If you get a genuine parking ticket then the details of any parking charges to be paid, or contested, are all clearly laid out via the details on the back of the actual ticket itself.
Do not try to resolve a parking issue, or pay a PCN charge, via any other route, says the council. “You will not be contacted by text message regarding a PCN charge in this way - ever.”
LCC Parking Manager Matt Jones said: “And here we go again with criminals popping up on Lincolnshire mobile phones with this scam. They are trying to get money out of anyone they can and it's entirely fake, regardless of whether or not the person they text has had a PCN filed about their parking.
"This despicable scam is working on a fear of prosecution and payment and is entirely false. I would strongly advise everyone to ignore it.
“Any genuine parking charge can either be paid, or contested, through the channels that are clearly laid out on the back of the parking notice itself.
"There will never be any sort of text message issued about payment of a PCN charge in this way.
“I would suggest that anyone who receives a text message like this takes a screen grab, including the phone number it is sent from, and sends it Report Fraud as soon as possible.”
To get in touch with Report Fraud go to: UK's Home for Reporting Cyber Crime & Fraud - Report Fraud or call 0300 123 2040.
It is also possible to forward a scam text message to 7726. For more guidance go to: Report a scam text message - NCSC.GOV.UK