The City of Vancouver has issued a warning about a new text message scam looking to fool people into thinking they have unpaid parking tickets.
The messages appear to come from a B.C. phone number, with a “reminder” the recipient has an overdue ticket that must be settled, with a link to a website that looks like it belongs to the city.
“These text messages are not from the City of Vancouver,” the city warned. “We do not notify the public of fines through texting, media or social media.”
Anyone who gets such a message is warned not to click the link or to provide any payment details. Recipients should report the messages to their phone provider and then delete them.
The scam shares similarities with a campaign earlier this year that saw fraudsters send text messages with false ICBC fuel rebates.
The scam messages are likely “phishing” attempts, in which fraudsters pose as an official agency to try and extract personal information or get someone to download malicious software.
You can find out more about phishing scams and how to protect yourself from the Better Business Bureau.