Boston police are warning the public about a new scam targeting residents by claiming that they have unpaid parking tickets.
Residents are receiving text messages about purportedly overdue parking tickets, the Boston Police Department said, clarifying in a recent notification to residents that these are not being sent by the city government.
Police directed concerned residents to the city’s official webpage about paying parking tickets.
Tickets must be paid within 21 days. They can be paid online, over the phone, by mail or in person. Tickets issued by city parking enforcement officers are uploaded to the city’s online system the same day they are issued. Handwritten tickets may take slightly longer to be uploaded into the system.
Residents can check the system or call the city’s parking department at 617-635-4410 to see if they actually have an unpaid ticket.
A screenshot of a fraudulent text posted by Universal Hub shows that the scammers are telling residents to click a click in an email using the city of Boston’s official logo. The texts are suspiciously coming from a non-617 number and warning about “late fees of 35$,” with the dollar amount written incorrectly.
If you’ve received a text over an unpaid parking ticket from the city, ignore the message. It’s a scam.
The text message, which uses the city logo, claims you have a small unpaid parking invoice and will be charged a late fee of $35 if you don’t pay right away. The message has some grammatical errors and contains a link to a fake website. That site is made to look like the official online payment portal, but it is meant to steal your personal information.
The City of Boston will never send you text messages about overdue parking tickets. You can stay protected by going directly to boston.gov or by calling the city’s parking department to see if you have an unpaid parking ticket.
If you do receive a suspicious text, remember to never click on any links.
if you or someone you know has fallen victim to this scam, report the incident to the Boston Police Department.
