Scottsdale police warning public about fake parking ticket scam

PHOENIX — Police are warning the public about fake parking tickets showing up under windshield wipers in Scottsdale.

Officer Aaron Bolin told KTAR News 92.3 FM on Wednesday that a handful of people have come to the Scottsdale Police headquarters recently looking to paying the bogus fines or to question the validity of the counterfeit tickets.

“They appear to be full-page-size citations that look like they could be legitimate,” Bolin said. “However, they do contain a QR code and only give the option to pay online, and then there’s no parking offense actually given on the citations that we’re seeing right now.”

Bolin said real Scottsdale parking tickets don’t have QR codes and will always list a citation number, an offense and options to pay the fine or contest it in court.

🚩Contains a QR code that leads to payment site.
🚩Only gives the option to pay online.
🚩No offense given on citation.
If you have received a ticket and would like to verify it's validity, contact our Records Unit at 480-312-1999. Wait at least 24 hrs to verify. #ScamAlert pic.twitter.com/bx3j6cXOWO

— ScottsdalePD (@ScottsdalePD) December 27, 2022

The QR code on the fake tickets leads potential victims to a payment website.

Bolin said detectives are trying to track down the perpetrators, but they can be elusive.

“A lot of times these scammers will be very clever,” he said. “They may have a QR code and a payment site or something set up for a temporary amount of time, trying to cash in with this scam as much as they can for the time they give it, and then they quickly change to a different site or a different QR code or something of that nature.”

Anybody wants to check the validity of a parking ticket received in Scottsdale can call the police department’s records unit at 480-312-1999.

Bolin also encourages anybody who knows they received a fake ticket to report it, which would could provide new leads for investigators. The department’s general phone number is 480-312-5000.

“We want people to be aware of this so they don’t fall victim of this scam. But … on the other side, our investigative side, we’d love to catch the suspects that are doing this and hold them accountable,” Bolin said.

KTAR News 92.3 FM’s Colton Krolak contributed to this report.

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