A series of text message scams targeting parking app users are currently circulating, with criminals impersonating RingGo to trick recipients into providing financial information. The fraudulent messages claim that parking charges remain outstanding and urge immediate payment to avoid enforcement action or administrative penalties. Recipients are directed to click links that ostensibly lead to the RingGo website, but instead arrive at convincing counterfeit pages designed to capture login credentials and payment card details.
According to security experts, the scammers have leveraged advances in artificial intelligence technology to create website clones that closely mirror legitimate platforms. The fraudulent texts contain several identifying markers, including poor spelling, suspicious web addresses that bear no resemblance to official RingGo sites, and sender designations such as “RingGo Customer Servicess.” Some messages originate from country codes associated with Morocco, though investigators believe the criminals are not actually based there but rather use international routing services to obscure their location and complicate tracing efforts.
The scheme exploits a specific technical vulnerability on Apple’s iMessage platform. The scammers deliberately engineer messages so that initial links appear inactive to iPhone users, as Apple disables links from unknown senders. Once a recipient responds to the message with even a single character, the sender is reclassified as known, activating the fraudulent link. Security researchers indicate that parking payment services are deliberately chosen as targets because the notification appears plausible to most drivers, the amounts requested are typically small enough to avoid immediate skepticism, and non-compliance carries perceived consequences.
RingGo officials advise that users should never click links in unsolicited messages and should delete them immediately. Customers can verify legitimate parking charges by accessing the official RingGo app or website directly. Those who have clicked suspicious links and entered financial details should contact their banks without delay, report the fraud, and change passwords beginning with banking credentials. Individuals receiving such messages can report them to the National Cyber Security Centre by texting them to 7726.
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