Police are warning motorists about fake parking tickets that appear to be authentic and prompt victims to pay the “fine” by scanning a QR code that could potentially reveal a person’s personal and or credit card information.
In a post to Instagram Tuesday, officials at the Alhambra Police Department said it had received multiple reports of fraudulent parking citations on vehicles.
“If you receive one of these citations, DO NOT scan the QR code,” officials said. “Scammers create QR codes to trick people into visiting a fraudulent website or downloading malware that could compromise their personal information.”
“I think it’s awful. It seems like everything you do nowadays, you have to be really careful,” Alhambra resident Garret Park told KTLA’s Ellina Abovian. “Now, even parking. Everything nowadays is out to get your money. I feel like this is just another one of those things that people have to be careful about.”
The fraudulent citations look like a store receipt with a QR code, and while one version of parking tickets issued by APD also comes in a similar form, that citation only refers people to the city’s secure website, which is www.cityofalhambra.org.
The other type of parking citation issued by the city’s police department is a yellow ticket accompanied by a white envelope.
Those who find a fraudulent parking citation or are unsure if the ticket is legitimate can call Alhambra PD Parking Section at 626-570-5119.
It’s unclear how many of the fake parking tickets have been put out or if the suspect or suspects placing the fraudulent citations on cars were wearing law enforcement uniforms.