Watch out for parking fine scams

If you've received a text message claiming to be from the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) about an overdue ‘parking penalty charge’, watch out.

It's a scam, according to the latest warnings from consumer group Which?.

And the scammers are doubling down, sending follow-up texts days later, pressuring victims with fake final payment reminders.

The DVSA has confirmed they’re aware of the wave of fake messages being sent out in their name and reiterated that they don’t issue parking penalties.

There are clear red flags that give away these parking fine texts as bogus.

Here's what you need to know to avoid falling victim.

What does the scam look like?

The initial scam text message is quite detailed, claiming that failing to pay the supposed overdue parking fine could result in additional fees, a driving ban, or even court action.

Anyone who opened the original fake text have been bombarded with additional messages in the following days, falsely warning that time is running out to get an early payment discount.

Some victims told Which? that the barrage of increasingly aggressive texts wore down their resolve, leading them to click the links despite their initial suspicions.

The links lead to a realistic-looking copycat government website, designed to harvest people's personal and financial information for use in identity theft and fraud.

Scammers can often detect when their text messages have been opened, letting them know a phone number is active. They then exploit this with subsequent messages to pressure the victim into falling for their con.

How to spot the scam

Which? points out several telltale signs that the message is a fake:

• Real parking fines are called either a penalty charge notice (PCN) or parking charge notice – not a ‘parking penalty charge’, as the scam texts say.
• You can't be banned from driving for .an unpaid parking ticket, despite the scammers' threats.
• The messages have obvious grammatical and formatting errors.
• Links in the texts use URL shorteners to hide unofficial web addresses instead of the proper gov.uk domain for real DVSA communications.
• The DVSA isn’t responsible for issuing parking fines in the first place – they’re nearly always from a council.

But the DVSA can send fixed penalty notices for speeding through the post. The golden rule to remember is that legitimate parking penalties are always delivered by post – never by text or email.

An authentic PCN or parking charge notice will arrive in a letter addressed directly to you.

The letter will include details like your vehicle registration number, where and when the alleged parking offense occurred, and photographic evidence of your car's position.

Crucially, parking companies and councils only have access to the name and address a vehicle is registered to – not phone numbers or email addresses.

So if you're contacted about a parking fine through those channels, you know it's a scam.

How to report a scam

If one of these counterfeit parking penalty texts lands in your messaging inbox, don’t click any links in the message under any circumstances.

You can report the scam text to the National Cyber Security Centre by forwarding it to 7726.

If you realise you've given the fraudsters your financial information, alert your bank right away so they can secure your accounts.

If you've lost money to the scam, report it to your bank and Action Fraud (or Police Scotland if you're in Scotland).