Christchurch parking scam: Fake QR code stickers prompt council warning
The Christchurch City Council is warning residents not to scan suspicious QR codes after fraudulent parking stickers appeared on meters across the city.
Stickers bearing QR codes linked to false payment websites were discovered by the council on multiple public and private parking machines this morning.
The scammers had also vandalised the meters with permanent marker to obscure the screen and encourage residents to pay for parking through the fake codes.
Head of Transport Stephen Wright said the council was taking the incident seriously, with city parking machines to be checked daily.
“The stickers at these sites were immediately removed and monitoring and surveillance from the Parking Compliance team has been increased,” he said.
“However, residents should be mindful that any stickers like this are not legitimate. The council would never prompt payment through QR codes and the correct payment method for council-owned parking sites is always provided on the parking meters themselves.”
The council said it was working with police and other parking providers to ensure any fraudulent stickers were identified and removed as quickly as possible.
A spokesperson for police confirmed a report had been made about the alleged scam this afternoon.
Anyone who has used the fraudulent website is urged to contact their bank, the police, and phone the council’s Contact Centre on 03 941 8999 to report the location of the meter.