The RingGo Parking Text: Is That Fine Real?

What's going on

A text is circulating that claims to be from RingGo, the parking payment app used across many UK towns and cities. It says you have an unpaid parking balance linked to your car's number plate, warns that fines will follow if you don't pay within 24 hours, and threatens to block your RingGo account. It includes a link asking you to enter your vehicle registration and make a payment.

It's a scam. Which? has had numerous reports of different versions of this text, and RingGo itself has warned of a wave of fake messages sent in its name. RingGo now carries a banner on its own website warning customers about it. Which? senior researcher Faye Lipson has confirmed the type of message is fraudulent, and says some convincing versions have led people to copycat websites built to look like the real thing.

There's no suggestion here that RingGo's own systems have been broken into. This is impersonation: someone sending texts that look like they're from RingGo, not evidence that RingGo's accounts or data have been compromised.

What this actually means for you

The text is built to make you act fast. A tight deadline, a threat of extra fines, a mention of your specific car: all of it is designed to stop you thinking clearly and just tap the link. Once you're on the fake page, entering your registration and card details hands that information straight to whoever sent the text. Which? points out this isn't only about the money on the page. Stolen personal details can be used to buy goods elsewhere or to target you with further scams down the line.

It doesn't matter whether you actually have a RingGo account or have ever parked using the app. These texts appear to go out broadly, so getting one is not proof you owe anything, and not getting one doesn't mean you're in the clear either.

What to do if you get this text

• Don't click the link, and don't reply to the text.
• If you do use RingGo, check whether you actually have an outstanding balance the safe way: open the official RingGo app, or type myringgo.co.uk into your browser yourself. Never follow a link from the text to do this.
• Forward the scam text to 7726, a free reporting number that goes to your mobile network, then delete it.
• If you've landed on a suspicious website through a link like this, you can report it to the National Cyber Security Centre.

If you've already clicked and entered details

Contact your bank straight away if you've entered card or payment information via a link like this. Change any passwords you may have reused on the fake page, particularly if that password is used anywhere else. Acting quickly matters more than working out exactly what happened.

What this does not fix

None of this stops someone sending you a convincing text in the first place. A VPN doesn't filter your SMS messages, and it won't tell you whether a parking fine notice is genuine. What actually protects you here is the same habit every time: go direct to the official app or a web address you typed yourself, never through a link someone else sent you.

If you're unsure whether a message or a link is genuine, it helps to check before you act rather than after. Veystrix's free scam checker at /tools/scam will look at suspicious text or emails, and the link checker at /tools/url lets you see where a link actually goes without opening it in your browser. If you're worried a password has already been exposed somewhere, /tools/password checks it against known breach data in your browser, without sending it anywhere.