Boston police warn about unpaid parking ticket scam

Boston residents should not click links in suspicious texts about unpaid parking tickets.

Parking tickets issued by the city of Boston. David L. Ryan/Boston Globe

January 6, 2025

1 minute to read

Boston police are warning the public about a new scam targeting residents by claiming that they have unpaid parking tickets.

Residents are receiving text messages about purportedly overdue parking tickets. The BPD clarified that these are not being sent by the city government in a recent notification to residents.

Police directed concerned residents to the city’s official webpage about paying parking tickets.

Tickets must be paid within 21 days. They can be paid online, over the phone, by mail, or in person. Tickets issued by city parking enforcement officers are uploaded to the city’s online system the same day they are issued. Handwritten tickets may take slightly longer to be uploaded into the system.

Residents can check the system or call the city’s parking department at 617-635-4410 to see if they actually have an unpaid ticket.

A screenshot of a fraudulent text posted by Universal Hub shows that the scammers are telling residents to click a click in an email using the city of Boston’s official logo. The texts are suspiciously coming from a non-617 number and warning about “late fees of 35$,” with the dollar amount written incorrectly.