{"id":393453,"date":"2025-09-03T02:38:19","date_gmt":"2025-09-03T02:38:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/393453\/"},"modified":"2025-09-03T02:38:19","modified_gmt":"2025-09-03T02:38:19","slug":"how-to-protect-yourself-from-common-scams","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/393453\/","title":{"rendered":"How to protect yourself from common scams"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Fake texts about unpaid tickets and tampered machines that secretly steal your card details are two common parking scams <\/p>\n

Fresh warnings have been issued by police forces and councils across the country after a rise in parking scams over the summer. <\/p>\n

From fake text messages about unpaid tickets to tampered car park machines that secretly steal your card details, fraudsters are becoming increasingly creative.<\/p>\n

BBC scams expert Nick Stapleton told Morning Live<\/a> there are easy ways you can protect yourself so you don’t fall victim to some of the most common tricks.<\/p>\n

1. Check your fine has these three details<\/p>\n

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Parking fines are either left on your windscreen, handed to you in person or sent in the post <\/p>\n

Genuine parking notices always contain certain details.<\/p>\n

“Real parking fines will include vehicle registration, the time of the offence and the location it happened,” Stapleton says.<\/p>\n

“If it doesn’t have these three things then it is a scam.<\/p>\n

“A genuine fine will always come in writing and will be left on your windscreen, handed to you in person or arrive in the post.”<\/p>\n

There are three types of fines you may receive – a penalty charge notice issued by the council, a fixed penalty notice issued by police usually linked to offences such as speeding and a parking charge notice issued by a private company. <\/p>\n

Parking charge notices “aren’t technically fines, they’re invoices for breaching parking rules”, so you don’t always have to pay them but “check carefully before refusing to pay”.<\/p>\n

2. Don’t click on links in texts <\/p>\n

If you get a text out of the blue saying you owe money for an unpaid parking ticket, stop before you click. One of the most common tricks is a fake text or email demanding payment for an unpaid fine. <\/p>\n

These texts usually come with a link you are told to click on to pay the fine and “use urgent and threatening language to make you panic”, Stapleton says.<\/p>\n

Some scam texts might say your licence will be revoked if you don’t pay for the ticket but “that’s not how it works, you won’t lose your license”.<\/p>\n

Some links in these scam texts take you to websites that look like official government ones. <\/p>\n

If you’re not sure a website is legitimate you can “click around on the other links”.<\/p>\n

“If you click through on other links on the page you’ll notice that they don’t work and that’s a clear sign it’s a clone site,” says Stapleton.<\/p>\n

3. Restart your device and change passwords<\/p>\n

If you have clicked on a suspicious link, don’t despair – but do these three things:<\/p>\n