No one likes to get a parking ticket and many are often ignored, but when it comes via email it raises a red flag and should be disregarded, says the city of Coquitlam.
The city is warning residents about a scam that has someone trying to collect fines for parking tickets. Some residents called the city saying they received a parking violation notice via email and wanted to know if it was legitimate.
“Obviously it is not. It is a phishing scam,” said Danny Bandiera, Coquitlam’s IT manager.
"Typically a lot of organizations in this era are known to [be vulnerable to fraudsters] and the city of Coquitlam is no exception,” he said.
The email appears to be from an @coquitlam.ca address, but Bandiera said the address has been spoofed and the links in the email don’t go to the city’s payment systems. He suggested anyone receiving the email should not click on any of the links and just hit the delete button.
He said no city technology systems have been breached and the integrity of its residential and customer data remains intact.
Bandiera said the city is investigating where the scam is originating from and may be contacting the RCMP in the future.
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