COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) – A round of text scams is making its way to the phones of central Ohioans, and it involves “unpaid parking infractions.”

According to the City of Columbus, its Parking Services department was made aware of fraudulent texts being sent from scammers requesting payment for unpaid infractions.

A city representative sent NBC4 an example of the text scam, which was sent to Parking Services by a customer:

It reads, “Columbus Parking Department: Your vehicle has an unpaid parking infraction. To avoid further late fees, please visit [this link] before 3/15/2025.”

In response, the city said, “Parking Services does not request citation payment by texting our customers, and we do not collect payment for violations by text. Please be aware of this scam. If you receive a text message making these fraudulent requests for payment, delete the text without clicking on the link in it.”

The scam is similar in nature to fraudulent texts received in February by Ohioans detailing “unpaid toll bills,” which mirrored that of a text scam in August with similar alerts.

The unpaid toll text scam alleges a “12-hour deadline” to pay the late fees “or the late fees will be increased and reported to the DMV.”

According to the Federal Trade Commission, any text received about an unpaid toll is probably a scam. Clinking on the link could lead to scammers stealing your personal information as well as your money.

Before the August scam, Ohio Turnpike officials issued a news release with steps to identify and combat these types of scams.

• Phone numbers appear to be randomly chosen and do not have to be associated with toll road use.
• Ohio Turnpike E-ZPass does not request payments by text. Collections of unpaid tolls and/or toll violations do not occur by text.
• All links associated with Ohio Turnpike E-ZPass will include www.ezpassoh.com and www.ohioturnpike.org

Anyone who has clicked on a text link alleging payment in this manner should secure their personal information, watch financial accounts for any suspicious activity, and dispute any unauthorized charges.