A parking meter in Sunnyside, Queens.
NYC DOT
Phone scammers are at it again. First, it was bogus E-Z Pass tolls due; now, it is about parking fees.
An SMS text scam is targeting New Yorkers by telling them they owe the City of New York money from unpaid parking tickets and need to make a payment immediately to avoid overdue charges. The messages appear to be from the city and includes a link to a fraudulent website.
The scam has proliferated since at least the start of the Feb. 28 weekend and has been sent to drivers and New Yorkers who do not even own vehicles.
New Yorkers are flooding social media with photos of the scam messages to warn others about the trickery.
The NYC Department of Finance (DOF), which oversees the collection and processing of payments for parking and similar violations, has a prominent warning about scams on its website, nyc.gov/finance.
“DOF will never send you a text message or email asking you for a username, password, security code or other personal information,” the warning states.
The parking-ticket scam follows another spree of fake texts that grew strong after the launch of congestion pricing on Jan. 5. These bogus text messages appeared as a “notice of toll evasion” and told people they owe money and had a date and clickable link to download a supposed invoice.
While the toll scam appears to have slowed down, it can still reappear in text messages or other communications. MTA authorities advise people not to click the link. The agency said E-ZPass New York will never ask for a customer’s date of birth, Social Security number or other personally identifiable information.
Here are additional tips to avoid being scammed:
Do not click on any links in text messages or emails from people you do not know.
Watch out for websites that look similar to legitimate sites but have slight differences in the URL.
Never enter your personal or financial information on a website that you do not trust.
It is better to be cautious. If you are unsure of a message’s legitimacy, avoid engaging with the sender.
Visit the Federal Trade Commission’s website, consumer.ftc.gov, for more tips.
