Residents are being urged to remain vigilant following a sharp rise in reports of phishing text messages fraudulently claiming to be from local councils or parking enforcement services.
The scam messages typically allege that the recipient owes a parking fine and include a link to make an immediate payment. They are often worded to appear urgent or threatening in an attempt to pressure victims into clicking the link or sharing personal and financial information.
Wiltshire Police stress the following advice:
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Do not click on any links or provide payment details.
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Do not respond to the message.
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Forward it to 7726, a free reporting service used by mobile networks to block scammers. More than 31,000 scams have been stopped using this method.
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Report the scam to Action Fraud (the UK’s national reporting centre for fraud and cybercrime).
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Delete the message from your device.
Police are reminding the public that legitimate parking fines are never issued via text message with clickable payment links.
Sharing this information with friends, family and neighbours – particularly those who may be less familiar with scam tactics will help in the fight against scammers.
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