Yesterday I tried to download a parking app for a stupid parking meter. It was called Parking Passport. It was freezing and I was in a hurry. As my card info was saved on my phone I put it in the card info section. Another screen came up, but I was rushing and clicked agree, only then noticing that it was something called Medialynk. I was confused but running late.
An hour later, I saw a message from hubby that the bank had declined the payment as fraud. The company that tried to take payment was called digitst.c , whatever that is. Thank goodness it was flagged immediately, but unfortunately we had to cancel the credit card because the fraudster will keep trying to use it. They tried to charge $1.95, then $38.95.
So my .50 cents worth of parking has resulted in a big headache but I am lucky it wasn’t worse. I reported the incident to Google because it was on the Play App Store, and I also reported it to the town Parking Enforcement office.
Then I thought I’d report it to the FTC, but it is a gigantic pain because it is asking me to input loads of info about the bank, street address, exact address of the incident, which I don’t know, etc…
Anyway, I am never using a Parking app again if I can help it. I later received an email in my junk, which I sent along as well.
Totally off topic, but if towns want to see their centers revived, stop charging useless parking fees at meters. I think they could charge an extra buck in taxes to cover their expenses.
This is apparently a scam that is taking off. Scammers replace legit parking QR codes with a malicious one, and people in a hurry just click through as you did… and the scammers run off with the CC info.
As an old person – or maybe just as a person – I absolutely hate those parking apps you have to use your phone for. It’s complicated when you’re standing there in the cold, and I don’t keep cc info on my phone.
In my case, I had to use an app from the play store, which I put on my phone. So it wasn’t a QR code I used, but at some point at filling out my info for the parking app, the fake site was able to take over, probably due to something I clicked.
As mentioned, the bank immediately flagged it as fraud and declined the payment. So that is at least a good thing.
Someone left my wife a voice message yesterday, saying they were calling from ______ Bank (that’s where my wife banks) and identified her name correctly as well as the location of our local branch. The lady sounded very professional and said she was Danielle, the new branch manager calling to make sure my wife’s banking needs were all being adequately met, and to let her know that they had new offerings for select customers to take advantage of the high interest rates. Could my wife please call her back at ______ to discuss these opportunities further?
I heard my wife listen to this on speakerphone and then she started dialing the number. I said “wait, stop! Before you call back that nice lady, check if that phone number is legitimate”. It turns out it was not - and in fact, that branch does not have anyone named Danielle working there
It all sounded so legitimate and believable. Scammers are getting much more sophisticated.
This scam was mentioned on NBC Nightly News yesterday. And this morning I was in Sam’s Club and when I politely asked a man to move who was standing there texting in front of the one item I wanted to buy, he apologized and said he was texting his daughter because she got a text about a toll and he was telling her it was a scam.
(ring)
Silence then “blip”
“This is Nia from the Pain Management Center, how are you today?”
Me: “I have no pain but thank you for your concern”
I hung up.
Well, I participate in NextDoor to a limited extent. The other day, I got a private message for someone who claims to be considering moving into our neighborhood and was asking questions about it. I answered a few times. I then told him it made no sense for him to be asking me, a stranger about this. He should attend some neighborhood board meetings and talk to people, talk to realtors and look at police statistics.
This morning another random person (or maybe the same one with a new name) sent me a private message, “Hi!” I’m ignoring. Sheesh! Can’t get away from scammers even on NextDoor!
Beware—there are scammers everywhere. Folks, always do you due diligence and if the texter is acting strange or whatever, just stop participating in the conversation. Better to be safe than sorry. Please consider having a safe word or phrase with loved ones so they can be sure that YOU really are YOU. My relative who works at a bank has had a lot of very sad cases of folks who have been scammed out of significant assets. With AI, voices can be imitated pretty well. Once funds leave the bank, the bank can’t get them back! Better to appear “rude” than become the next victim.
