Fake parking or driving fine by text: what to do and how to check if it's real

Fake parking or driving fine by text: what to do and how to check if it's real

"GOV.UK: You have an unpaid Parking Charge Notice. Pay within 48 hours to avoid enforcement action and a higher penalty: [link]." Variations arrive in the name of local councils, the DVLA, Transport for London, the Dart Charge, "Highways" or a private parking firm: an unpaid parking fine, a speeding offence, a missed road charge, vehicle tax "refund" or "failed payment". All of them push you to pay quickly through a link. This is smishing: a fake text whose real goal is to steal your card details.

How does the fake fine scam work?

1. The text arrives from an unknown number or a sender name that looks official ("GOV-UK", "DVLA", "PCN"). It mentions a fine, a charge or a refund and gives a deadline.
2. The threat: the amount will double, bailiffs will be sent, your licence will be suspended or your vehicle clamped.
3. The link leads to a website that copies the look of GOV.UK or a council, with official-looking logos and fonts.
4. They ask for your card details, and sometimes your name, address, date of birth and driving licence number "to identify the vehicle".
5. The real goal: with your card details, plus the code your bank texts you if you enter it on the fake site, they make payments or add your card to a mobile wallet. Your personal details are also reused for later scams, such as fake calls from your bank.

How do I recognise the fake text?

• Real penalty notices don't arrive by text with a payment link. Council parking Penalty Charge Notices are normally fixed to your vehicle, handed to you or sent by post; speeding and other motoring offences are notified by post.
• The DVLA doesn't text you asking for card or bank details, or to claim a vehicle tax refund.
• The link isn't an official address. Genuine government services are on gov.uk; councils use their own official websites. Look for odd domains, extra words or hyphens, and unusual endings.
• Extreme urgency: "pay within 24 hours", "final notice", "enforcement action today".
• No specific details: no registration number, no date, time or place of the alleged offence, or details that don't match your vehicle.
• The sender is a normal mobile number or a name that tries to look official.

How do I check whether I really owe a fine?

1. Don't use the link in the text. Close it.
2. Look at your post: real fines and notices arrive on paper, with a reference number, the vehicle registration, the location, date and time and a photo or description of the contravention.
3. For a council parking fine, go to your council's website yourself, or start from the GOV.UK page on parking fines and penalty charge notices, and check using the PCN number on the paper notice.
4. For vehicle tax, check your vehicle's status on GOV.UK's vehicle tax checker.
5. For road charges, use only the official service: for the Dartford Crossing, the GOV.UK Dart Charge page; for London's congestion charge or ULEZ, Transport for London's official website.
6. For private parking charges (from car park operators, not councils), check the letter that came by post and the operator's own website, typed in by you.

What do I do if I've already entered my card details?

1. Call your bank straight away on 159 or the number on the back of your card. Ask them to block the card and check for unrecognised payments.
2. Tell them if you entered a code received by text: a payment may already have been approved.
3. Ask your bank to dispute any payment you didn't authorise.
4. Watch your statements over the following weeks and turn on payment alerts in your banking app.
5. Be alert for follow-up calls: fraudsters often ring later posing as your bank's fraud team, using the details you entered. Hang up and call your bank yourself.
6. If you entered your driving licence number or other personal details, watch out for applications or accounts in your name, and consider protective registration with Cifas.

Where do I report it?

• Forward the text to 7726, free on most networks, so your provider can block the sender, as the NCSC explains. Scam emails go to [email protected] (GOV.UK guidance).
• Report Fraud (formerly Action Fraud) on 0300 123 2040 in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, or Police Scotland on 101, if you've lost money.
• NoCall: report the number in the spam numbers directory.

Frequently asked questions

Do councils or the DVLA ever send text messages? Some services send reminders, but a genuine message won't pressure you to pay a fine through a link or ask for card details. If in doubt, ignore the link and check on GOV.UK or the official website yourself.

I do have a real fine and the text matches. Could it be genuine? Coincidences happen: scammers send millions of these texts. Check with the reference number on the paper notice through the official website. If the text's details don't match the notice, it's fake.

I only tapped the link and didn't type anything. Am I at risk? The risk is low if you didn't enter any details. Close the page, don't go back and keep your phone's software up to date. Forward the text to 7726.

What if it comes by email or WhatsApp? It's the same scam on a different channel. Don't use links; check on official sites. Forward emails to [email protected].

In short

Parking fines and driving offences arrive on paper or on your windscreen, not as a text with a payment link. Don't tap, check on GOV.UK or your council's website, and if you've already paid, call your bank and block your card. And if one of these texts has reached you, report the number in the NoCall spam numbers directory: your warning could stop the next driver from paying.