Municipal police in Vila Nova de Gaia on Tuesday warned of possible attempts to scam people with fake fines, after discovering that notices similar to fines had been posted on vehicles parked in the municipality.
“We were alerted by a citizen who, upon seeing the alleged fine, was outraged because in his opinion it was not a violation and called us before paying. If he had paid, the money would have gone to an unknown person and he would have been fraudulent,” Gaia municipal police commander Telmo Moreira told Lusa.
The official said patrols had been posted on the streets to check whether “fraudulent fines” had been distributed to vehicles, and a warning had been issued for “people to be careful with these papers, be suspicious, report them and, above all, not pay anything.” “
These are notices that appear to be violation notices identical to those issued by parking concession companies.
A link to an ATM appears on the false fine and a 50% discount is offered if the alleged violation amount is paid within 24 hours.
The document contains details for payment via an ATM, which is not present in real municipal police fines, which are actually transmitted manually.
Images of the fraudulent fine discovered today, which appears to have been issued at 00:30 on Rua Trás Vila Nova de Gaia, as well as images of the actual fine, are being circulated on municipal police and municipality social media.
In its statement, the Gaia Chamber urged “all citizens to always be alert to this type of fraud” and “not make any payment without confirming the legitimacy of the document” by reporting these situations to the authorities.
Luse Telmo Moreira said that the situation has already been transferred to the judicial authorities to begin an investigation.
“But it was important for us to stop this situation as much as possible. A citizen who fulfills the expected fine, or a foreign citizen, will most likely soon pay and lose track of the money,” the commander insisted.
Telmo Moreira said that this type of fraud had already happened in other cities and that after a simple search using the online search platform Google, it was concluded that the readings on the paper found in Gaia were the same or similar to those in Gaia. The scam, known as “Hi Father/Hi Mom”, is a type of scam that is carried out through written messages, mainly through the WhatsApp application.
Regarding this type of fraud, PSP reported in early February that in January it had received 260 complaints about the phrases “Hello Father/Hello Mother” and recorded more than 360 crimes related to computer and communications fraud.
Author: Lusa
Source: CM Jornal
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