Parking fine scam

We are warning anyone using our car parks and on-street parking not to respond to a text message stating that they have received a parking ticket. The text message is fake and is part of a national scam. 

A parking ticket is also known as a Penalty Charge Notice (PCN).
 

About the text

If you receive a text it will include a link to a fake government website where you are asked to input your vehicle registration number.

It then shows that you have a parking fine charged at £20.

Parking and the enforcement of on-street parking regulations in Uttlesford is run for us by the North Essex Parking Partnership (NEPP).

NEPP will never send text messages to people who have received a parking ticket.

Genuine tickets are issued in a yellow penalty charge notice wallet and will be put on your vehicle windscreen by NEPP civil enforcement officers.
 

What to do

If you receive one of these texts, it is not genuine.

⚠ Do not open the link and do not pay the fine.

Report it

Instead, Action Fraud and the National Cyber Security Centre advise that you should report the scam by forwarding the text for free to 7726

You can also report the scam to the Police through the Action Fraud website.
 

Parking tickets

If you get a genuine parking ticket in any of our car parks or on-street parking you can you can pay it online on the NEPP website.

You'll need your PCN number and your vehicle registration.

You can also pay a parking fine using the 24 hour automated payments service on 01206 507275.

More infromation about PCNs.

 

Updated 10:43 on 26 September 2024