Fraudsters are targeting Wandsworth drivers with three active scams: fake texts demanding parking fines, bogus traffic wardens stealing bank cards, and fake QR stickers on parking machines and EV chargers.
Wandsworth Council issued a warning this week after scam texts began circulating impersonating the council and asking residents to pay outstanding penalty charge notices. ‘We will never send a text message asking you to pay a PCN,’ it said. Anyone who receives one should delete it without clicking any links and without sharing bank details.
Bogus traffic wardens near East Putney
The second scam is more confrontational. In December 2025, police warned that fraudsters were posing as traffic wardens near East Putney station, claiming the nearby parking machine was broken and offering to help drivers pay for a ticket. One victim lost £500. In at least one case, a fraudster also obtained the victim’s PIN.
‘Please be cautious when paying at a parking meter with a bank card,’ said PCSO Cecilia Allaker, from the East Putney ward team. ‘You may be the victim of fraud when you are offered help to obtain your parking ticket.’
Never hand your card to anyone at a parking machine. Walk away.
Fake QR codes on parking machines and EV chargers
The third scam is known as quishing (QR code phishing): fraudsters place fake sticker codes over legitimate ones on parking machines and EV chargers. Victims who scan them are taken to convincing fake payment sites; some are also unknowingly enrolled in bogus recurring subscriptions.
The Bureau of Investigative Journalism reported last August that Action Fraud received around 800 reports of QR code fraud in the year to April 2025, with victims losing £3.5m in total.
Wandsworth’s lamp-post EV charger network is a specific local risk. The council’s own EV charging page now warns residents to check QR codes before scanning, a sign that the borough’s infrastructure has already been identified as a target.
Ubitricity, which operates many of those chargers, advises customers to run a finger over the QR code before scanning. A raised surface means a sticker has been placed over the original. Do not scan; use the operator’s app instead.
What to do
- Fake PCN text: Delete it. Do not pay, do not click. The council never texts about parking fines.
- Stranger offering help at a parking machine: Walk away. Never hand over your card or PIN.
- QR code on a parking machine or charger: Run your finger over it first. If it feels raised, use the app instead.
Report any fraud to Action Fraud: 0300 123 2040 or actionfraud.police.uk.
