What's happening
A wave of texts is telling UK drivers their "parking payment remains outstanding from your latest parking activity", with a link to view details and pay. Which? flagged the latest version in August 2026: the link leads to a fake RingGo website that sneakily contains "ringgo" somewhere inside a longer, unofficial address. Variants impersonate councils, DVLA and "penalty charge notice" systems, threatening escalating fines for a payment that never existed. It's a numbers game — millions of people have parked somewhere recently, so the message feels plausible to almost everyone who receives it.
The QR code twist: "quishing"
The physical version of the same scam: fraudsters stick fake QR codes over the genuine ones on parking meters and signage. Scan it and you land on a cloned payment page that takes your card details — and often your registration and phone number for follow-up fraud. Tampered stickers have been reported across the UK and in Ireland.
The rules that settle it
- Parking apps charge when you park, not afterwards. RingGo, JustPark and PayByPhone take payment at the time — they don't send follow-up payment demands by text. Check your parking history in the app itself, never through a link.
- Genuine penalties arrive by post. Councils and DVLA issue Penalty Charge Notices by post to the registered keeper, with a formal appeal process — not by text with a pay-now link.
- "ringgo" inside a URL doesn't make it RingGo. The official site is ringgo.co.uk. A longer domain with the brand name buried in it is the scam's disguise.
- Treat meter QR codes with suspicion. Look for a sticker placed over the original or misaligned printing — and prefer the operator's app, or type the URL printed on official signage, over scanning.
What to do
Don't tap the link or scan the code — check your parking app's own history if you're genuinely unsure. Forward scam texts to 7726 (free on all UK networks) and scam emails to report@phishing.gov.uk. If you've entered card details, contact your bank immediately to block the card, and report any losses to Action Fraud. Fraud now accounts for an estimated 45% of all reported crime in England and Wales, with £1.28 billion lost in 2025 — reporting genuinely feeds the network-level blocking that's already stopping tens of millions of scam texts a month.
Got one of these messages?
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Check it now — freeCommon questions
I did park somewhere recently — could the text be real?
Almost certainly not. Parking apps take payment at the time you park, and genuine penalties from councils or DVLA arrive by post to the registered keeper with an appeal process. Check your history inside the parking app itself — never through the link in a text.
How do I spot a fake QR code on a parking meter?
Look for a sticker placed over the original code, misaligned printing, or a URL that isn't the operator's official domain. The safest options are paying through the operator's app or typing the web address printed on official signage.
Where do I report parking scam texts?
Forward the text to 7726 (free on all UK networks) and scam emails to report@phishing.gov.uk. If you entered card details, contact your bank immediately, and report losses to Action Fraud. You can also paste the message into the free Scam-Less checker for an instant verdict.