Dear Watch Member,
On the morning of Thursday 19th August an elderly gentleman was the victim of a parking ticket machine scam in Hatch End. The victim parked his vehicle in Grimsdyke Car Park (behind the shopping parade in Uxbridge Road) and paid for his parking ticket. As he walked along Uxbridge Road he was approached by a man who told him that he needed to confirm his parking ticket with a bank card. The man has then escorted the victim over to a nearby parking ticket machine, made him insert his bank card into either the change slot or ticket slot of the machine and input his PIN via the keypad used to input a vehicle’s registration number.
The man has then told the victim to wait by the ticket machine for a few moments until his bank card is released. However, the man had already stolen the victim’s bank card and withdrawn £500 from the victim’s account.
This scam has occasionally happened in Pinner but, whatever area you park in, please be wary of any helpful stranger offering to assist you with parking payment-related matters. And remember, you cannot pay for parking at any of the few cash machines left in Pinner, which is another scam previously reported to us.
Please inform elderly family members and neighbours of this scam to protect them from fraudsters.
For fraud prevention advice please on this link: www.met.police.uk/advice/advice-and-information/fa/fraud/.
If you need to reply regarding this message, tap on this email address: [email protected]
Regards,
Lee O’Brien
Pinner Safer Neighbourhood Team
Email: [email protected]
Tel: 020 8721 2775