Warning issued about parking scam fleecing people of money at Milton Keynes city centre

Milton Keynes City Council has issued a warning about a parking scam that is duping people who visit the city centre.

A clever fraudster has stuck QR stickers on some of the parking ticket machines, encouraging people to scan and pay via their phones.

But the money ends up in the con artist’s account rather than the council coffers. And, to make matters even worse, the duped customer could face a parking ticket for non-payment.

A council spokesperson said today: “Please be aware that QR code stickers are being put on some parking ticket machines advising people to scan and pay.

“We DO NOT use any QR code stickers on our payment machines. If you do see any QR code stickers on a machine please report to our Parking team [email protected]”

Police are investigating the fraud and the council is advising anybody who has already scanned one of the offending QR codes to report to the police on 101.

Members of the public have aired their own views on social media about the scam.

One man wrote: “You know what would stop this kind of scam? Abolishing parking charges and adding a very, very small amount to council tax for everyone. That way we could all pay towards it and all park up the city centre whenever...”

Another posted: “What's also a scam is making the minimum parking charge from 1 to 2 hours. Sometimes I only need to park for 30 mins but have to now pay for 2 hours.”