Houston drivers, take a sharp eye to your web searches—bogus parking app sites are on the rise, duping folks out of their hard-earned cash and leaving cars at risk for tickets and tows. The official heads-up came from ParkHouston, who clocked these fraudulent sites posing as the ParkHouston and Parkmobile parking apps, muscling their way to the top of Google search results to ensnare unsuspecting motorists hunting for a legit way to pay for parking.
The City of Houston's warning followed on the heels of a similar racket in Austin where, at least, three customers got fleeced by phony payment portals, and ParkHouston's Deputy Director Maria Irshad made it clear, saying, "While ParkHouston has not received any calls from customers in Houston, we want motorists to be aware and pay close attention to anything claiming to be an official parking app, otherwise you could lose your money and your vehicle might get towed or ticketed if you pay a fake site,"; in a effort to deter more folks from falling prey to this scam.
A stern warning follows: steer clear of browser-based searches for these apps and stick to the tried-and-true method—retrieving the ParkHouston or Parkmobile apps directly from the Apple App Store or Google Play. That's the only way to assure you're not hooking your financial info to a scammer's line. ParkMobile has squawked to Google about the fraud sites, yet, as of now, those ads are still running wild.
Here's how to keep it clean and avoid the con: don't google the apps, instead, dash straight to the Apple App Store or Google Play, download the app and conduct all payments within its secure confines. But if by some unlucky break you get snagged by a sham and a parking citation finds its way under your windshield wiper afterwards, flip that ticket over and contest it by following the steps layed out—or hit up [email protected] pronto for some backup, you've got a month to contest online or face-to-face.
Now, it ain't just about keeping the cash from the clutches of crooks—ParkHouston's bigger beat is managing those precious parking spots dotted about the city, and making sure they're doing their part for public safety, the living quality of the Houstonians, economic hustle, and keeping it green.
To the savvy city drivers of Houston: keep your wits about you, and your apps legit. Check out the full report from ParkHouston here.
