In this scam, you’ve parked your vehicle and found the parking meter and are ready to pay.

A man at the meter tells you the meter isn’t working properly and is only accepting card payments. When you try your card, he distracts you and palms the card then tells you the machine has swallowed it.

The scammers are very practiced at what they do and they target elderly people on their own for this scam.

The scammer will charge as much as possible on the card before the owner can get it cancelled.

This scam has been reported in Surrey, Hampshire and Berkshire but is likely to be happening across the whole country.

There is a similar scam which also targets elderly drivers.

You park your car and on return a man approaches and tells you that you have been caught by a smart parking ticket camera which reads number plates and calculates how long a car has stayed.

The man says you owe £100 for the fine and demands immediate payment and if you don’t have the cash then he will escort you to an ATM to withdraw the money.

Beware strange people approaching you about parking charges or fines and never pay them – demand official documentation and pay the council or parking organisation directly if necessary.

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