Parking fraud scheme undone by alert staff

News Release

Parking fraud scheme undone by alert staff

The diligence of Kelowna Parking Services staff likely averted a mass fraud Thursday by noticing unauthorized QR code decals on parking pay stations. 

“We acted quickly to inspect all our parking meters and pay stations early Thursday to determine if additional equipment was impacted and quickly removed fraudulent QR code decals from approximately 75 pieces of pay parking equipment,” said Cody Passley, Parking Services Supervisor.

The decals included a portion of the PayByPhone corporate logo, so the incident was reported to PayByPhone, which was able to swiftly block the fraudulent website associated with these decals. 

If not for these actions, the money people paid for parking would have gone to the fraudsters’ website. Also, parkers might have received an offence notice, requiring them to contact the city to have it cancelled.

The city security team identified three individuals involved with installing decals late on Wednesday evening, and the RCMP has launched a fraud investigation. Anyone with information or who can identify the three associated men, shown in CCTV footage, is asked to contact the RCMP or Crimestoppers, quoting RCMP File # 2026-8822.

The City of Kelowna Parking Services does not use QR codes for parking payments, so they ask that residents to be aware of this and to report any parking pay stations if they see QR codes displayed on to contact Parking Services at 250-862-8585 or by email at [email protected]  

 “We recommend downloading the PayByPhone app directly from your phone’s designated app store to ensure the authorized application is being used to pay for parking in City of Kelowna on- and off-street pay parking areas,” said Passley.

PHOTO: These CCTV images show three men suspected of applying the fake QR code decals to parking meters in Kelowna