A "disturbing" scam parking fine text message has been sent out to residents across Reading, leading to a warning from Reading Borough Council.
Numerous residents have been in contact with the council and The Reading Chronicle about the suspicious text messages.
The message - sent from a mobile number - asks the recipient to "please pay a parking penalty notice (PCN) issued by a local council."
If the scam fine is not paid, the recipient will be "prosecuted," the message warns.
One resident, John Frake, contacted The Reading Chronicle to say his family had been targeted and said the scam's "air of legitimacy was disturbing."
He said: "It included a URL to pay the fine. We couldn't think of anywhere that we would have got a fine - the last place we parked was in Windsor.
"The URL didn't mention the government, the site didn't mentioned the government, but it had a government logo, and I thought, 'I'm not comfortable with this.'
"I've seen online that a lot of people have had a similar experience - I saw one person had paid £20. I told them to check their bank balance to see if they had taken anymore."
Reading Borough Council has stated that it does not send out texts about parking fines. Instead, residents should expect to receive a physical ticket applied to the vehicle or in a letter sent to the registered owner.
In a statement, a spokesperson from Reading Borough Council said: "We’ve been made aware of a scam where people are receiving text messages stating that they have been issued with a Penalty Charge Notice (PCN) by their local council for a parking offence.
"This is a scam. Please ignore these texts if you receive them and do not click on the link to make a payment."
Suspected scam messages can be reported to the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC).
Most phone providers are part of a scheme that allows customers to report suspicious text messages for free by forwarding it to the NCSC on 7726.
If you forward a text to 7726, your provider can investigate the origin of the text and arrange to block or ban the sender, if it’s found to be malicious.
You can also take a screenshot or screen recording of the text message and send it to the NCSC at report@phishing.gov.uk
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