Falkirk motorists warned to remain vigilant as scammers target cashless parking payment systems

Motorists are urged to beware of scams involving cashless car parking payment systems

The rise in cashless payment machines for car parking across the UK has also led to an increase in scammers targeting this relatively new system. ms.

According to personal finance expert NerdWallet, many car parks now operate a totally cashless payment system and instead use a QR bar code scanning system similar to the ones that became widespread during the COVID-19 pandemic.

However, fraudsters have now begun targeting these systems in an attempt to steal money and personal information from unsuspecting victims by using a fake QR code that is stuck to a payment machine disguised as a “quick pay” option.

As these scams become more prevalent, Brean Horne, a personal finance expert at NerdWallet, has listed her expert advice on how to spot a scam and avoid being a victim.

Motorists should look out for:

Spelling mistakes or inconsistencies – poorly worded texts or e-mails with multiple misspellings, awkward syntax, and grammatical errors are usually an indication of a scam. Any legitimate message from a company would have been proofread and should be easy to read. An urgent tone or message that requests immediate action – a scam message often prompts recipients to act instantly and has a tone that implies emergency action is required. This is to play on the emotions of the person receiving the message and encourage them to take action and respond. Anything asking for sensitive information – e-mail, text and phone scams often ask for some form of sensitive information, whether it’s financial information like bank details, or login passwords and secret answers to security questions on various personal accounts. The opening address – scam emails and texts will often address the receiver in a way that might appear strange or uncommon. This could be through vague forms of addressing the victim, through names like Sir, Madam, Miss, or Mr because they either do not have the recipient's personal information or in order to copy and paste the message to multiple people for ease. Another standout way to spot a scam email is if the email refers to the receiver by e-mail address, for example, dear “[email protected]”. Make sure to report spam texts or e-mails – any suspicious or fraudulent messages can be forwarded and reported to 7726, a free service that looks into fighting scams.