According to reports, scammers are loitering near parking machines, pretending to work for the council, and attempting to obtain drivers’ bank card pin numbers.
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The scammers claim that the online system is down, and so insist that the driver uses their debit card in the physical machine. Instead the machine supposedly ‘swallows’ the card.
The scammer then promises to retrieve the card by getting a ‘key’ from their van. They then drive off, with pin card details and withdraw cash at a later date.
The council says parking machines cannot “swallow” or retain bank cards. It warns that if a card goes missing while using a parking machine, the owner has been a victim of theft and should immediately cancel their card.
Pay and display machines accept contactless payments, and motorists should use this method to avoid pin numbers being used and copied.
Anyone who has been a victim of fraud should cancel their card immediately and contact Action Fraud.
In an emergency call 999 or report a crime by calling 101 or online at www.met.police.uk.
