Portsmouth City Council is issuing a warning to residents and visitors regarding fraudulent parking websites that exploit the name RingGo, a popular parking app used for on-street parking and in car parks across the city.
Unfortunately, the council has received reports of a rise in fraudulent websites that pretend to be official RingGo webpages. These deceptive websites often appear as the top search result on search engines and aim to deceive unsuspecting users into sharing their payment details with scammers.
Not only do these scam websites potentially take people’s hard-earned money, but it also exposes them to parking fines as they may not be aware that they haven’t purchased parking in the right way.
Cllr Gerald Vernon-Jackson, Cabinet Member for Transport said:
“Using the RingGo service is an easy way to pay for parking in Portsmouth, but it’s important for people to be vigilant to make sure they’re using the official apps. Scammers often pay to have their websites appear as the first option on search engines such as Google, as a way to trick people into giving away their payment details, so people should make sure they’re only accessing RingGo from an official source.”
RingGo is a convenient way for people to pay for parking using their smartphones. By registering their vehicles, users can swiftly complete parking transactions without needing to carry spare change. They’re also able to extend any parking sessions remotely, so they don’t need to return to the car to buy extra parking time if needed.
To ensure that people avoid being taken advantage of from scams like these, residents and visitors are strongly advised to only use the official RingGo app, which is available for download from trusted sources such as the iOS App Store, Google Play Store, or Huawei App Gallery. Alternatively, people can download the app from the official RingGo website at www.ringgo.co.uk.
If people come across a website that they believe is fraudulent, they can report it to the National Cyber Security Centre.