Urgent warning as woman scammed out of £836 in clever parking scam

Drivers across the country could be at risk of being scammed with fake QR stickers plastered on parking machines.

An Irish road user lost a staggering €1,000 (£836) after being caught out in a huge cashless parking machine scam.

However, instead of paying the parking fee, they lost hundreds of pounds in seconds after probably sharing personal information with fraudsters.

A video posted on the social network X showed that the QR code with identical proportions was placed directly on the royal seal.

In the clip, a woman was seen picking up the sticker and removing it in front of shocked onlookers.

They said, “Oh my God. So that’s probably what happened to you.”

By uploading the video to her profile, user X @lozzyloboz revealed that the incident took place in the coastal town of Greystones, just 30 kilometers from Dublin.

The post said: “Careful everyone, this happened in greystones. The lady’s daughter was scammed out of 1,000 euros, using a QR code she scanned to pay for parking.”

“I would hate to see someone get scammed like that. It’s getting worse.”

Former Top Gear presenter Quentin Wilson weighed in on the issue by suggesting operators should be held accountable.

He commented: “This is happening too often. Never use QR codes for parking. And what are parking providers doing to stop this fraud? Their machines, their land – surely the responsibility to prevent this should be theirs.”

Stunned road users turned to X to vent their frustration over the incident, with many calling for cashless parking due to the rise in incidents.

@MrPaulStott commented: “It never happened in the days when you put coins in a machine, or when you handed money to an old man in a cabin. Technology is not always good news.”

@Fisherfitz1 added: “Sorry now but cash is king, it’s about time young people realize that, put down the phone and use cash.”

However, the incident is not the first in the UK, as similar fake QR codes have emerged in Fylde, Leicester and Northumberland in recent months.

Car insurance experts and RAC breakdown experts recently warned that QR stickers have made “drivers more vulnerable to malicious scammers”

Head of roads policy Simon Williams previously added: “As if this expulsion scam wasn’t nasty enough, it could also result in drivers getting caught twice if they don’t realize they haven’t paid for parking and ending up getting a hefty fine. of the council.

Payzone has issued a warning on its website asking road users to check machines carefully before making any transactions.

A full statement read: “Payzone is aware of fraudulent activity relating to fake QR code stickers appearing on some pay and display parking meters in the Dublin and Wicklow area. Fake QR stickers have been superimposed on genuine QR codes that redirect to a fake payment site.

“Payzone hired an IT company who was successful in quickly shutting down these fraudulent websites where we became aware of specific cases.

“Payzone has reported this issue to An Garda Síochána. We are removing any affected signage and have notified customers via our website and social media channels to be aware of fake QR codes on pay and display parking meters.

“The online security of our customers is our highest priority and we ask all customers to remain vigilant when making payments.

“We advise all customers not to scan any QR codes on signage and to only make payments on the official Payzone website domain, http://www.payzone.ie. Customers can also make payments through the official Payzone app, Parking Tag.

“If customers have been affected by this scam, we recommend that they contact their bank immediately to cancel their card, email [email protected] with details of the QR code and the URL (website) they were directed to , so that we can proceed to take these websites down, they should also report the incident to An Garda Síochána.