New parking scam texts targeting local phones

5 days ago
2 min read

Beware of a new text message campaign that hit the islands this week. It claims that you owe money for speeding, parking and toll evasion and it looks pretty official... but something is off!

Here’s what the text message looks like. See if you can spot everything wrong with it:

This is great practice for identifying a sloppy scam. Why are St. Louis and Honolulu County on the same notice? Check out the em dashes (long hyphens) in the “Immediate Action Required” section. Also notice how the location information has “LouisCounty” run together.

Most of the time, these scams include a link to pay. This one has a QR code, which means you would need another phone to read it. That extra step reduces the effectiveness of the scam. That’s the good news.

The Takeaway

The bad news is that we did some forensics on the QR code and discovered something disturbing. Anyone who scans it and visits the site it takes them to will see a big button labeled “I am a human.” If you tap that button and have a Microsoft 365 account linked to your phone, your credentials could be harvested.

That can lead to all kinds of headaches, especially if the bad actor gets into your work email account and starts stealing data or impersonating you.

I hope you found this exercise helpful. If you come across a suspicious text message pushing you toward urgent action, now you know what they’re after and how to avoid an account takeover nightmare.

Stay safe out there.

-Attila

New Friday Funnies!

What do you get after 4 speeding tickets in a row?

A bicycle.

What driver never gets a parking ticket?

A screw-driver.

What happens when a frog parks in a no-parking space?

It gets toad away.

Which celebrity gets the most speeding tickets?

Kim Kar-dash-ian

What do you call a car that never stops?