Parking Scams Hit North Carolina
Using your phone to pay for parking is convenient, but make sure you aren’t getting ripped off. Parking scams have hit North Carolina.
In Charlotte’s uptown, where paid parking is the norm, public officials have noticed an uptick in parking meter scams. Thieves are using fake QR codes to trick unwitting customers into revealing their payment information. Local Better Business Bureau president Tom Bartholomy almost fell victim to a QR code trap himself.
“As soon as it popped up on my phone where it was going to take me, I said, ‘Wait a second.’ Then I looked at that QR code, and the little label on it was a little off-center,” he told Spectrum News. “So, I lifted it up a bit, and the real QR code was underneath that.”
Consumer advocates like Bartholomy say you should always double-check any QR code labels and websites that you are being sent to. If there’s still an option to pay directly at the meter, that’s the best way. His brush with fraud happened at a city-owned parking meter.
