The Detroit Auto Show is yet again the beacon for car enthusiasts, but this time, there's an urgent warning for attendees: watch out for parking scams. As reported by the Michigan Attorney General's office, scammers are targeting show-goers with fraudulent parking schemes. Michigan AG Dana Nessel advises attendees to stay vigilant and be aware that con artists might sell access to parking areas they have no rights over.
“While it’s important to have fun and experience everything the Detroit Auto Show has to offer, it’s also important to be smart,” Nessel told the Michigan Attorney General's office. Visitors looking to park should seek a receipt or parking ticket after paying and are reminded to never simply hand over their keys to an attendant unless it's confirmed by the location that the valet service is legitimately offered. An extra layer of caution can certainly spare one the trouble of dealing with ticketed, towed, or even stolen vehicles.
Another concerning trend identified involves the issuance of fake parking tickets. The Better Business Bureau (BBB) warns that today's technology allows scammers to create tickets that look strikingly real. These counterfeit citations may direct unsuspecting victims to make payments online or through a QR code. Nessel urges all residents to verify these tickets by directly visiting the municipality’s website or by calling the court before taking any online or QR code instructions seriously.
The BBB offers tips to avoid being duped by these scams. It's key to "know before you park," which means researching beforehand for legitimate parking and local parking requirements, especially for tourists who might not be in the know about the local parking laws. In case you receive a citation, it's likewise essential to "examine the citation carefully" and ensure any payment site appears secure, ideally with a .gov or .ca (in Canada) designation. One should also "double-check" to whom the payment should be made out—if it's by check, it should rightfully be addressed to a government entity and not some ambiguous string of initials or a personal name. When possible, paying traffic citations by credit card is advised to more easily contest any fraudulent charges down the road.
The Detroit Auto Show, which takes its stage at Huntington Place in Detroit, will be accessible to the public through January 20. For those looking to file a complaint or seeking further information regarding parking scams, the Attorney General’s Consumer Protection Team can be contacted at the following: by phone at 517-335-7599, toll-free at 877-765-8388, via fax at 517-241-3771, or online through their complaint form.
