Source: City of Oxford
Oxford City Council is warning car park users to be on the lookout following reports of fraudulent activity at Worcester Street car park, linked to the payment machines.
Three customers have reported that sums of money were taken, or attempts were made to take funds, from their bank accounts shortly after using the pay machines.
In each case, the customers used their cards to pay for parking and subsequently received alerts or noticed suspicious activity on their accounts.
The City Council immediately reported the matter to the police and is actively assisting with their investigation.
Our own internal checks have identified that fraudsters placed skimming devices, disguised as legitimate card readers, over the actual readers on our pay machines. These devices can capture card data without the user’s knowledge. A common sign of this scam is a “card declined” message on the machine, prompting users to move to another machine—by which time, the card may already have been compromised.
The City Council has already taken action
We have:
What car park users can do
Comment
“We understand the concern this may cause and are taking this issue extremely seriously. This kind of incident is not common in any of our car parks. Public safety and the security of our facilities are top priorities, and our staff regularly check the machines and are trained to spot this kind of scam.
“I would ask for car park users to remain vigilant and promptly report any similar incidents or suspicious activity to the police.”
Councillor Alex Hollingsworth, Cabinet Member for Planning and Culture