DC residents, visitors warned of fake parking tickets; here's how to recognize the scam

WASHINGTON (7News) — The Better Business Bureau (BBB) is warning D.C. residents and travelers about a new scam that doesn’t pop up online like most these days, it ends up right on your windshield.

Officials are calling it a new twist on an old scam. Scammers are using new technology to create fake parking tickets that look authentic. If you walk out and see a parking ticket on your windshield and you’re certain you have parked illegally and paid your meter, don’t second-guess yourself. There’s a chance that the ticket is fake.

7News On Your Side took a look at real and fake tickets to help you spot the differences.

SEE ALSO | DC looks to hire more officers to address rise in illegally parked cars

Here’s how it works, you park in a legal parking zone or pay to park on the street or in a garage. While you are away from your car, scammers use high-tech, hand-held printers to make a fake ticket and leave it on your car's windshield. Then you are prompted to use the QR code on the citation to pay the ticket online.

In other versions of this scam, you receive an email claiming you have a pending parking ticket. Scammers typically include official-looking logos. The QR code doesn’t send you to the Department of Public Works in D.C., it sends you to a fake website.

These types of scams have popped up around the country so it’s not just targeting those here in the DMV but those who are traveling to other touristy cities. Not only could you lose a lot of money but your personal information will now be in the hands of scammers.

Here are the BBB’s tips to avoid scams:

• Know before you park. Before visiting a new place, research available parking and local parking requirements. Tourists with out-of-state plates are often the preferred target for parking scams because they need to familiarize themselves with local parking laws.

• Examine the citation carefully. Scammers can imitate logos and city office names, but an imitation website is usually where the scam comes to light. Do an internet search for the city's official parking ticket websites and compare what you find to what's on the ticket. Keep in mind that government sites should end in a .gov or .ca (in Canada) designation, and if there is a payment page, it should always have a secure connection.

• Double-check the name checks should be made out to. If the ticket allows for payment by check, take a closer look at the address the check should be sent and how it should be addressed. Checks should generally be made to a specific government organization, not a string of initials or personal names.

• Pay traffic citations by credit card when possible. It will be easier to contest fraudulent charges if you discover you've been scammed down the road.

According to the D.C. Department of Motor Vehicles, 'legitimate Notices of Unpaid Parking Tickets from the District of Columbia Department of Motor Vehicles are mailed to customers via the United States Post Office. The notice contains specific information on how to contest the ticket by submitting a request for adjudication and includes the agency’s website address, which is dmv.dc.gov."

More tips from D.C. DMV:

• There are more than 30 agencies that issue tickets and there is not an established “DC Parking Authority.”
• Correspondences issued from DC DMV will not be signed, “Y.U. Parcthar,” and they do not have the tag line, “WeTicket, You Pay,” as DC DMV does not issue tickets.
  

Those who think they got a fake ticket can report it to the Federal Trade Commission.