Melbourne parking ticket email scam strikes again

A PARKING ticket scam claiming to be from the City of Melbourne has struck again with a new wave of dodgy emails asking for payment.

A PARKING ticket scam claiming to be from the City of Melbourne has struck again with a new wave of dodgy emails asking for payment.

The scam first emerged last month and a new wave of fake emails has been landing in inboxes since the weekend, a council spokesman said.

SCAM EMAIL WARNING

ILLEGAL PARKERS NAMED AND SHAMED

PARKING FEE REVENUE JUMPS

“In the past four days, we’ve received more than 30 calls and emails from concerned customers who have received the parking scam email, which demands payment within 14 days. These emails are not issued by City of Melbourne.’’

The scam email claims to be from the City of Melbourne, requesting payment for parking fines. Pic: City of Melbourne

The initial scam was reported to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission’s Scamwatch service.

“We will be following up with the ACCC regarding the latest round of scam emails,’’ the spokesman said.

“If you receive emails like this delete them and do not open any attachments.

“Never reply to spam email — this gives the spammers a known active email address.’’

The bogus email falsely carries the name of Global Parking Solutions as well as the branding of Impark, a Canadian parking company. Neither is connected to the email.

The council collected about $50 million in parking fees during the last financial year but revenue from fines was down $3 million.

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@IanRoyall