Fraud is an incredibly tragic ordeal. There’s obviously the cost to the victim, but there’s also a layer of irony to the craft. While many of the schemes concocted by conscienceless fraudsters may be profitable, they likely pale in comparison to the lucrative legitimate careers that could be had if these crooks put their creativity to use in an honest job.

One relatively new scheme has these shadowy schemers placing fake citations on the windshields of parked vehicles, even those that are legally parked. The tickets have a QR code. When a victim scans it, they’re taken to a website that beckons them to offer up their bank information to a payment account. While one could probably make a killing off  the revenue from these specific interactions, it’s a safe bet that the criminals will continue to exploit that bank info once they have it.

It’s a developing trend that will likely grow more prolific. The Atlanta Police Department issued a warning in early December about the scam, including a rash of fake tickets on cars parked around Mercedes-Benz Stadium during SEC Championship weekend, but they’re hardly the first. The police department in Alhambra, California, warned residents about the practice back in July. Their press release included warnings that the website connected to the QR code on fake tickets might lead to victims downloading malware on their phones, as well. 

While law enforcement agencies may be able to crack down on the trend, potential victims can protect themselves by doing some good, old-fashioned research. Instead of using the QR code, recipients of parking citations should first go the website of their local law enforcement agency and manually check to see whether the citation appears legitimate. Some jurisdictions will post lists of legitimate ticket numbers online for this purpose. As if getting a parking ticket weren’t bad enough…