There’s an old saying that “a sucker is born every minute.” After watching people for the past ## years, I’m starting to think it’s true. Too many people fall for scams, and that’s how they begin. If you think there’s an audience of naive people who might fall for whatever you’re trying to do, you give it a shot. And then stuff like this happens:
- Scammers taking advantage of Wells Fargo hack
- How an Uber driver almost scammed me
- How to avoid e-visa websites that look legit, but aren’t
So it’s not too far-fetched that swindlers are now trying to bilk people who they go to pay to park their car, is it?
So many things are done electronically nowadays, including, in some places, paying for parking. Some cities are even giving up on their decades-old meter system and switching to electronic payments. Case in point, if you try to park in certain areas of Birmingham, Alabama, you may find something like this:
Anyway, if your home town or places you visit relies on one or more of these apps, such as ParkMobile, Park Whiz or SpotHero, you might already have that particular app or apps. In those cases, you register your credit card and pay through the app. It’s simple enough, and yay for no longer having to put 6,000 quarters in the meter.
But if you’re visiting a city for the first time and haven’t set up one of these apps, you might encounter a sign with a QR code. This seems like an easy way to pay the parking company, right? Well, that’s where scammers come in…
Scammers have gotten wise to this and are altering these signs. Take a look at this video from the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office (Pinellas County is right near Tampa, FL):
Be careful out there, travel friends.
*** Many thanks to Michelle R. for the heads up
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