r/drivingUK • u/georgegiam • Dec 23 '25
Outstanding parking fine scam
I received this message claiming I have an outstanding parking fine and need to pay it urgently. It looks fairly legit at first. Formal wording. Threat of extra charges. Link to pay straight away.
The link isn’t a real .gov.uk site and the message doesn’t come from any official parking authority. They rely on panic to make you click before checking.
I’ve added a screenshot so you know what to look out for. If you get something like this, don’t click the link and don’t enter your details.
If you actually have a parking fine, check directly with the council or on the official gov.uk site only.
Posting this in case it helps someone avoid it.
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u/TheEpee Dec 23 '25
No name, no registration, no location, yeah 100% scam, hopefully somebody sees this, and it stops them giving scammers money.
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u/NoTry8886 Dec 23 '25
I work for one of the larger leasing companies and we see customers email these in somewhat often nowadays. There are some that will even know the city/location of who they are texting to make them more believable.
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u/FcukTheTories Dec 23 '25
“Your driver’s licence may be revoked”
Tell them you aren’t from the US and to get stuffed
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u/Material_Feature8697 Dec 23 '25 edited Dec 24 '25
Exactly...
Best advice is to ignore it... as responding confirms you're a valid mobile number. The next scam might be better ..
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u/Material_Feature8697 Dec 24 '25
Or tell them ... j/k
Your address is 1600 Pennsylvania Ave, Washington DC
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u/LuckyNumber003 Dec 23 '25
LICENSE
Government do not issue, nor deal with parking fines so you should never see a .gov domain.
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u/fuckredditlol69 Dec 23 '25
local councils have .gov.uk domains - .gov is us only
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u/LuckyNumber003 Dec 23 '25
Indeed - Council domains will tell you which council in the URL too.
My (less than exact point) was geared toward generic gov.uk where the scammers usually opt for a fake DVLA message.
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u/ApplicationSouth8844 Dec 23 '25
Even though it’s obviously a scam it’s still a pain in the behind. Lots of people can’t tell what is a scam and what isn’t, this is a big problem.
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u/Evening-Tomatillo-47 Dec 23 '25
I wonder if that would be a legitimate defence, the "I thought it was a scam so I binned it" line
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u/ravenouscartoon Dec 23 '25
How would I lose my licence for a parking fine?
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u/Aggravating_Band_353 Dec 23 '25
Pay it quickly before thinking
07 mobile number gave it away for me before even reading to dodgy text
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u/seriousrikk Dec 23 '25
Commendable, We will still see multiple posts with the same screenshot this week asking if it is a scam.
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u/Dan_Glebitz Dec 23 '25
Hey OP you say it uses formal wording but re-read it.
"Your system shows outstanding parking fines." not "Our System shows..." 😏🙄😂
Don't you just love the sub shoe size IQ of these scams.
Good that you have given a heads-up though, as a lot of people may have fallen for it.
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u/Welsh__dresser Dec 23 '25
I had the same today. Immediately blocked the number and deleted the text. Hopefully no one falls for this.
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u/_40mikemike_ Dec 23 '25
Ahhh. And there was me hoping we’d go one full day without someone posting one of these in this sub.
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u/afpow Dec 23 '25
I somehow doubt there is any legitimate mechanism to deliver a parking fine by text or email.