Police in Southern California warn residents to beware of parking tickets that look like this
ALHAMBRA, Calif. - Police in Alhambra are warning against a new scam that's popped up in the area, and say if you find a parking ticket on your vehicle, give it a closer look.
According to police, criminals are sticking fake parking tickets on cars in the area, complete with QR codes where people can "pay their fines." The tickets are pretty convincing looking, saying that they're issued by the City Of Alhambra Parking Enforcement, featuring the car's information and a reason for the citation.
Left: A fake parking ticket featuring a QR code, found on a vehicle in the city of Alhambra. Right: A real traffic citation from the Alhambra Police Department (Credit: Alhambra Police Department via Instagram)
Police say that if you find a ticket on your windshield that looks like it, do not scan the QR code.
"Scammers create QR codes to trick people into visiting a fraudulent website or downloading malware that compromises their personal information," the department's post said.
A fake traffic citation found on a vehicle in the city of Alhambra (Credit: Alhambra Police Department via Instagram)
"We're taking it very seriously because we don't want our citizens to be scammed out of their money. We also don't know what's going to happen if they scan that QR code. So you know, we don't want any malware or anything like that to be put on their phones," said Alhambra police Sgt. Michael Montano.
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Another dead giveaway that the post is fake, police say, is that it includes the URL to a website outside of the city's official web page.
"We will only refer you to our safe and secure city website: www.cityofalhambra.org. If you are unsure, don’t hesitate to contact us," police urged the public.
To help you figure out if the ticket you find on your car is legitimate, police shared photos of the only two types of citations the city issues.
Real traffic citations from the Alhambra Police Department (Credit: Alhambra Police Department via Instagram)
Alhambra is the only city reporting this scam.
Officers are asking anyone who finds one of the fake tickets on their car to contact the Alhambra Police Department's Traffic Division at 626-570-5119.