If you receive a text from the Canadian Ministry of Transportation police are advising it is probably a scam.
According to Lethbridge Police Service officials, police have identified the new scam targeting people through text messaging. The text from the message that is alleged to be from the Canadian Ministry of Transportation says the person receiving the text has an outstanding parking ticket and includes a link to where this ticket can be paid. Police are advising those who receive the text not to click on the link.
Police say some tips to avoid falling victim to smishing scams, text scams, include not responding to unsolicited text messages, deleting the text immediately and not send any money to a third party you do not know. Another precautionary step police advise is verifying information with a valid and trusted source such as a local registry to confirm unpaid fines.
According to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre, the term smishing comes from the combination of the SMS and phishing, which is the term for emails or messages that look real but are used by alleged scammers to get sensitive information from potential victims.
