City of Milwaukee warns of parking ticket text scam

MILWAUKEE – A fake text message appearing to come from the City of Milwaukee stating that the recipient has an overdue parking ticket is currently spreading across the city.

Alderman Lamont Westmoreland said Monday the scam likely affected thousands of phones and anyone who received it should delete it or ignore it.

“It’s really sad that scammers would use what appears to be a legitimate municipal source to run a scam like this, but it’s not surprising. Please spread the word of this potentially damaging scam to your family, friends, and networks as soon as possible! » said Alderman Westmoreland.

The scam appears to work like this: Recipients receive a text message that appears to be from the City of Milwaukee stating that the recipient needs to pay an overdue parking ticket and click to pay to avoid late fees. Anyone clicking the link could open their phone/data to malware or ransomware.

Anyone who provided their debit or credit card information should contact their financial institution immediately and report what happened, so their accounts can be locked down and protected.

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