If you walk out to your vehicle to find a parking ticket, give it a closer look.
Law enforcement authorities say a new parking ticket scam is impacting California residents.
Criminals are sticking fake parking tickets on cars with QR codes where people can “pay their fines.” In case you are unfamiliar with a QR code, it is a type of barcode containing various data that your camera lens or a QR code reader app can read.
These “fake” parking tickets look very convincing and state what the city’s Parking Enforcement has given them. They feature the car’s information and a reason for the citation.
Law Enforcement is warning residents of this scam. If you find a ticket on your windshield, do not scan the QR code.
These parking ticket scammers create QR codes to trick people into visiting a fraudulent website or downloading malware that compromises your personal information, according to FOX 11 https://www.yahoo.com/news/police-southern-california-warn-residents-231621850.html Sgt. Michael Montano, out of Alhambra, CA, says, “We’re taking it very seriously because we don’t want our citizens to be scammed out of their money. We also don’t know what will happen if they scan that QR code. So, you know, we don’t want malware or anything like that to be put on their phones.”