URGENT warnings have been issued over a QR code scam, tricking drivers out of hundreds at a car park.
Motorists in Southend-on-Sea have been urged to not scan the fraudulent codes which have popped up on some car park signage.
The City Council said it had already removed around a whopping 100 falsified QR codes since Tuesday evening alone.
The local authority assured residents that it didn't use QR codes on any of its parking machines, parking signs or for any pay-by-phone mobile apps.
This means those looking to park should be wary of the QR codes.
It addd that adverts for the Southend Pass were the only exception.
Labour council leader Daniel Cowan has warned Southend-on-Sea residents of the scam.
He told the "We just want to encourage people to be vigilant."
The council also said it was aware of a second sneaky scam, where people had been sent text messages claiming they had got a penalty charge notice (PCN).
A council spokesperson said: "Southend-on-Sea City Council will never text you about a PCN.
"Please ignore these texts and do not click the link to make a payment."
Sadly, the scam, which is known as “quishing”, has become commonplace across the UK and sees grifters placing QR code stickers on parking machines to fleece victims' bank accounts.
Anyone who scans these square barcodes to pay for a parking ticket using their phone or to visit a website address is instead directed to a site or app run by scammers.
In recent times, councils up and down the country have been scrapping archaic pay and display meters in favour of ‘pay by app’ systems.
This move has been accelerated by mobile phone providers switching off 3G data networks, on which some parking machines operate.
But experts are concerned this could be leaving drivers vulnerable to scammers.
Speaking last year, Ian Taylor, director of the Alliance of British Drivers consumer body, said: “Parking is becoming not just overpriced and difficult to operate — and in some places in short supply — but now at risk from crime too.
“It also highlights once again the need to stop being so reliant on apps.
"At the very least, credit or debit card payment should be available as well.”
Another man looking to park his car was scammed last year when he was asked to pay a 90p fee to verify his bank details in order to make the payment.
But he alleged that he was then charged £39 to subscribe to the app without being informed about it.
Photographer Milton Howarth, from Garforth, Yorkshire, told BBC Radio 4: "You've got to be extra, extra careful.
"This is quite a clever scam.
"It raises the question of how this company is being allowed to continue to openly steal from people.
"They are preying on people, many of them, like myself, getting on in years.
"These stickers should not be allowed to remain on parking meters."
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