Durham County Council is alerting drivers that it does not use QR codes for any payment methods in any of its pay and display car parks or spaces.
“Fake QR codes have been found on number of parking meters across the North East,” it said in a scam warning on Facebook.
“Members of the public have also notified us about scam texts they have received to say that a parking fine is outstanding to their local council and to click the link on the text to pay it.
“It appears to the public that this is from a ‘gov’ phone number. The link is taking the customer to a site to pay £20.
“This appears to be a http://gov.uk website. This is also a scam.
“If you notice a QR code in any of our car parks or parking places to inform Parking Services via email at parking services[@]durham[.]gov[.]uk or phone on 03000 263 985.
“You can pay for a parking space for our car parks and pay and display parking by: using your phone (PayByPhone app), cash or contactless payments where provided.
Read more about the latest scams and fraud to be aware of in County Durham at www.durham.gov.uk/currentscams/.
South West Durham News covering news across County Durham.
