Unfortunately, there are any number of nefarious characters who look to make money from others whenever the opportunity arises. People are always being told to be on the lookout for text messages asking for their banking details, for example, or emails containing links to unofficial sites that purport to be from an official account.
Now it seems as though drivers in Guildford need to be on the lookout for scams that look to earn money from their desire to get a ticket to allow them to park in one of the car parks around the town centre, having already had to do the same recently.
Look Out for Stickers on Contactless Readers
Drivers who look to park in car parks run by Guildford Borough Council are being told that they need to remain vigilant in order to avoid falling foul of a scheme designed to take their money. Fake stickers have been placed over contactless card readers on the ticket machines that are in car parks. When a driver then goes to pay for their ticket, whether by using a contactless card or by taking advantage of their mobile phone being able to do it via the likes of Apple Pay or Android Pay, they will see a ‘Card Declined’ notification on the machine. Sadly, it might not end there.
Instead, the stickers that have been placed there are designed to skim the card details of the user, meaning that they are compromised from the moment that they tap to pay with one. Not only do people end up sending money to the scammers instead of paying for their ticket, they also end up giving them their card details for them to take advantage of in the future. On top of that, the fact that they haven’t bought a ticket might result in them getting a fine from the parking enforcement officers whose job it is to patrol the car park and ensure that cars have paid the right amount to park there.
The Second Parking Scam This Year
Guildford residents will be all too aware of the fact that this is the second time this year that nefarious characters have looked to take advantage of people parking in the town. In February, fake QR codes were placed on ticket machines, sending people to a convincing-looking Guildford Borough Council site that was actually a fake one. They would then enter their card details into the site, believing that they were paying for a parking ticket but instead simply handing over their information to people who would look to make use of them in the future for their own needs.
In the December of 2024, meanwhile, criminal types were turning up to car parks in Surrey pretending that they were car parking attendants, using fake machines to steal the card details of those hoping to park their car. It means that the people of Surrey constantly need to be on the lookout for ways in which various bad-faith actors are looking to get their money instead of allowing them to park their cars. When the QR code issue happened earlier in the year, Guildford Borough Council recommended that drivers download the app in order to pay for their parking costs.
What Can Be Done?
The fact that this is the second such case of Guildford Borough Council car parks being used as a location for criminals to try to fleece people out of money, it is fair to ask what, if anything, the local residents can do. The short answer is that they need to be on the lookout for anything that looks slightly suspicious, doing what they can in order to avoid falling foul of such a scam. If there looks to be a new sticker on the machine that you need to use to pay for your ticket, for example, report it to the Council and look to see if there is another machine you can use on-site.
If the car park has an application you can download to your phone, using a car park identification code to confirm where you’re parked, you should do so. This will avoid the need to go to any website or use your contactless card to pay for your parking, which will remove the ability of the criminals to get hold of your personal information. If you have already paid but fear the worst, it is then worth getting in touch with your bank in order to ask them whether your payment has been sent to Guildford Borough Council or whether it has gone somewhere else. If the latter, you can ask them to block the payment.
Make Sure You Get a Ticket
Whilst it is obviously important for drivers to avoid falling foul of any scam put into action by criminals around the Guildford and wider Surrey area, it is also key that you make sure to get a ticket to allow you to park where your car is. A spokesperson for Guildford Borough Council made this clear, saying that the scam can cause ‘several issues’ for the person looking to park their car somewhere. They said:
They end up paying money to scammers and giving them their card details. It could also lead to parking fines as victims fail to pay the correct parking fare via the correct channels.
The new ‘skimming’ scam has been identified as the latest way fraudsters look to use sophisticated digital tools to steal people’s money.
If you have parked somewhere within the confines of Guildford Borough Council, it will obviously add insult to injury to be in a situation whereby your bank details are taken and you also get a fine. There are ways to ensure that you still get your ticket to allow you to park, including using a different machine, but don’t assume that you will be forgiven any parking infringement because your card is skimmed.