PEOPLE are being warned to watch out for a parking scam doing the rounds.

It comes after a motorist was targeted after parking in an Exeter City Council car park.

The motorist parked his car in Topsham Quay Car Park on Sunday, January 4.

Five minutes before the ticket was due to run out, his wife received a text message from the scammer, saying that they ran the risk of losing their “license” and this would affect their credit score. They were sent a (bogus) link for making payment.

The motorist recognised it was a scam due to the American spelling of license and the fact that the scammer would have no way of knowing that ticket was about to run out due to the fact the windscreen had frozen over.

Exeter City Council said it only issued physical fixed penalty notices, which are fixed to the windscreen of vehicles when they have overstayed, and it will not contact the motorist by text or email.

It is likely that it was a coincidence that the motorist in this instance was contacted by the scammer at the same time as they parked in the Topsham Quay Car Park.

The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) also warns that scammers are sending text messages about fake DVSA parking penalty charges.

You can report scam text messages to the National Cyber Security Centre.

Report a scam text message: https://www.ncsc.gov.uk/collection/phishing-scams/report-scam-text-message

Find out what to do if you think you’ve shared personal information: https://www.ncsc.gov.uk/collection/phishing-scams/what-to-do

If you’ve lost money or have been hacked as a result of responding to a suspicious text message, report it at www.actionfraud.police.uk or call 0300 1232040.

For more information on these scams and how to report them, visit the Gov.uk website: DVSA issues warning about parking fine scam text messages - GOV.UK