THUNDER BAY — If you receive a text message advising you have an overdue parking fine, it's wise to ignore it.
The Thunder Bay parking authority, now known as Municipal Parking Services, recently has been getting calls from motorists about texts that say they must pay their outstanding parking ticket by a certain date to avoid additional fees.
Jonathan Paske, supervisor of Municipal Enforcement Services, said the phones started ringing last week.
"People were just checking in to see if it was in fact legit," he said Tuesday.
"These are scam texts . . . That's not us."
The text message tells the recipient to click on a link to make the necessary arrangements to pay the overdue fine.
Clicking on an unknown link could expose your electronic device to malicious web pages or cause apps containing viruses/malware to be installed on it.
"We don't text people, call people or email anyone about outstanding tickets," Paske emphasized.
Notices about unpaid tickets are delivered as regular mail.
The parking authority is telling callers to ignore the texts and report them to the appropriate agency.
