Chicago residents warned of new parking ticket scam
CHICAGO - A new scam is targeting Chicago residents with fraudulent text messages claiming they have unpaid parking tickets. The texts include a link to a fake website designed to steal personal information.
Treveyon Kinnard, a Chicago resident, recently received a suspicious text from a phone number with a 343 area code, which is based in Ontario, Canada. The message claimed he had an unpaid parking ticket and provided a link to pay it. Kinnard clicked on the link but quickly noticed red flags.
"I did take notice that the dollar sign was after the actual price that they had told me; it said '35.00$' instead of being properly a dollar sign, $35 dollars. That was the first thing. But, you know, I kind of thought to myself, we all make mistakes," Kinnard said.
The fraudulent website, infraction-park.com, features the City of Chicago's seal and claims that users have unpaid parking invoices from the "City of Chicago Department of Infraction," a non-existent department. The website requests personal information, including name, address, ZIP code, email, date of birth, and credit card details.
FOX 32 conducted an investigation by entering fictitious names like Jane and John Doe with various ZIP codes on the website, which consistently returned claims of unpaid parking tickets.
Steve Bernas of the Chicago Better Business Bureau warns that providing personal information through such scams can lead to identity theft.
"The other information they’re asking for is always helpful in stealing your identity, so your birthdate, and especially your email address. And they can then target you with more ads or scams over the years because once they have a live victim, it’s a commodity, and it’s actually worth more to the scammers once somebody falls for it," Bernas said.
In Chicago, legitimate parking tickets are managed by the Department of Finance. Residents who receive these scam texts and are unsure about the authenticity of their parking tickets can verify their status by visiting the official city website.