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City of Kingston - City warns of parking ticket text message scam

July 23, 2024

Suspicious text messages asking community members to immediately pay for parking tickets have been reported to the City of Kingston. This type of scam, called smishing (short for SMS phishing), asks the user to click a link and enter sensitive data, such as a credit card number, banking information, passwords and other personal information. 

This is a sample of what a smishing text may look like:

Picture of a text message that reads, "You currently have an outstanding parking ticket that must be paid by May 28, 2024 in order to avoid incurring additional fees: https-unpaid-ticket.com"

We do not follow up on payment of parking tickets by text message. City of Kingston parking tickets can be paid for by mail, in person at the City Hall Payment Centre or in the 24-hour collection box on the door of City Hall's Market Street entrance. 

If you would like to learn more or want to report an instance of fraud, please call Kingston Police at 613-546-4660 or visit the Frauds and Scams page on their website.