Warning issued over parking fine text scam

Councils across Suffolk have issued a warning over texts being sent out falsely informing people they have to pay outstanding parking fines.

West Suffolk Council said the phone messages were fake and part of a national scam.

The texts include a link to a bogus government website, where people are asked to input their vehicle registration number. It then shows they have a parking fine charged at £20.

Nic Wray from Stowmarket, who does not drive, received a message asking them to follow a link and pay £60, and was warned the fine would increase if they did not.

"It sounded very much like the notices that you get, but I was lucky, I was able to brush it off because I don't even drive, I don't have a car, I don't even have a driving licence," they said.

They added dozens of people on a Stowmarket social media page had reported receiving the same message.

West Suffolk Council, in common with other authorities, has received a number of enquiries about the fictitious fines and said it did not issue parking fines through text messages.

The authority said genuine fines were issued in yellow penalty charge notice wallets on vehicle windscreens by West Suffolk Council civil enforcement officers.

David Taylor, cabinet member for operations at the council, said: “If you receive one of these texts, it is not genuine so please do not open the link and do not pay the fine.

"Instead, Action Fraud and the National Cyber Security Centre advise that people report the scam by forwarding the text for free to 7726.”

Suffolk Trading Standards said it understood the fake texts were part of a nationwide scam.

The service said it had been contacted by people who had received the text messages, but no-one had been in touch to say that they had actually paid the fine.

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