RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) — With the intricacy and believability of scams continuously evolving, the Better Business Bureau (BBB) is warning would-be victims to watch out for a scam using new technology to create believable-looking parking tickets in order to steal your hard-earned cash.
How the scam works
The BBB says the scammers wait until after drivers park their cars on the street or in a garage. After the soon-to-be victims leave their cars, the scammers will use high-tech, hand-held printers to create a fake ticket and leave it on the car’s windshield.
The fake tickets will direct the victims to pay online via PayPal or even use a QR code to direct them to a fake payment website. The outcome of this is the payment of a made-up fine nobody actually owes in addition to the scammers now having the victims’ personal information.
Scammers will often include official-looking logos, according to the BBB, and will argue there will be “dire consequences” if the victims don’t pay. Tourists with out-of-town license plates could be a more common target for these types of scams due to the supposed unfamiliarity with parking laws in a new place.
How to avoid parking ticket scams
The BBB lists several different ways people can avoid becoming the newest victim of a parking ticket scam, including:
- Know before you park. Before visiting a new place, research available…
