A Close Encounter with a Parking Fine Scam
A resident of Chur almost became a victim of a clever scam shortly after receiving a parking fine. On August 2, she visited the Giessenpark in Bad Ragaz with her dogs, but in the midst of managing them, she forgot to pay the parking fee. Upon returning to her vehicle, she discovered a fine placed under her windshield wiper.
After returning home, she scanned the QR code from the parking ticket, which directed her to the website of the St. Gallen Cantonal Police. However, two days later, on August 4, she received an alarming SMS stating: “Notice regarding parking payment: No payment has been recorded for your parking session on August 4, 2026, at 4:01 PM. A remaining amount of 4.00 Swiss Francs is due.” The message urged her to transfer the amount by 11:59 PM or face a late fee of up to 100 Francs. It also instructed her to reply with ‘1’ to receive a link for payment. A link was included for further information.
The timing of the message, arriving so soon after the parking fine, raised suspicions. Although she was tempted, the woman wisely chose not to click the link. Instead, she deleted the SMS and reported it as spam. This decision proved to be astute. When she showed the sender's number, which had the country code +212, to a friend, she learned that it originated from Morocco. She suspects that the scammers photographed her parking ticket's QR code and used it to uncover her phone number online.
A spokesperson from the St. Gallen Cantonal Police confirmed to a local newspaper that it is plausible for scammers to have either photographed the parking fine or scanned the QR code. These types of scams are common, where fraudsters attempt to harvest personal data through SMS or malicious links.
Preventing Scam Victims
Claudio Reich from the Graubünden Road Traffic Office mentioned another possibility for how criminals could have accessed the woman's contact information: the public vehicle register. He explained that the names and addresses of all vehicle owners in Switzerland are publicly accessible. The Graubünden Cantonal Police are aware of the SMS scams and recommend that individuals do not respond to suspicious emails, messages, or WhatsApp texts, nor should they click on any links provided within them.
20 Minuten has also reported multiple cases of individuals receiving similar SMS messages from Morocco, often related to speeding violations, but these were not in German. The suspicious SMS received by the woman exhibited several red flags, including the foreign phone number, lack of a personal address, an insistence on same-day payment, and threats of a fine of 100 Francs.
As reported by 20min.ch.
