A RingGo text scam is circulating. Messages claiming to be from the parking app, telling you a review of your account has found an unpaid parking charge, and warning of further charges or enforcement action if you don’t settle promptly. There’s a link. The link goes to a copy of the RingGo site that collects your card details.
It works because it’s plausible. Parking apps are genuinely fiddly with patchy signal, sessions that don’t start and cards that get declined. This means that “you owe us for a session” doesn’t sound absurd.
How can you tell it’s fake?
RingGo’s own guidance sets out the tells. It will never text you from a generic or personal email address. Fake links don’t point to its official website. The address may begin with “ringgo” but the rest of the domain won’t match. And some of these messages ask you to reply with a single letter such as “Y”, or to copy the link into your browser to open it.
That last one is worth considering. A message asking you to reply before the link works is a message trying to get around your phone’s own protections. No legitimate company needs you to activate a link by texting back.
The check that always works
Don’t use the link. Open the RingGo app you already have, or type myRingGo.co.uk into your browser yourself, log in, and look at your receipts and history. If the session shows as paid, there’s nothing owing and the text was fake.
This type of scam is also prevalent for many other sectors. Whoever the message claims to be from, whether that your bank, the DVLA, a delivery firm, the safe move is to go to the app or site you already use, by a route you chose, and check there.
If you’ve already tapped
Contact your bank straight away and tell them your card details may have been compromised as they can block the card. If you entered your RingGo login, change that password, and change it anywhere else you’ve used the same one. You can report scam texts by forwarding them to 7726, free on all UK networks.
If a payment has already gone out, unauthorised transactions on your card are your bank’s responsibility to investigate. Our guide to writing a complaint letter covers what to send, and the start page will point you at the right route.
Common questions
Does RingGo text you about unpaid parking?
The messages circulating are fake. RingGo says it will never text from a generic or personal email address, and fake links don’t point to its official website.
How do I check whether I actually owe parking money?
Open the RingGo app you already have, or type myRingGo.co.uk yourself, log in and check your receipts and history. Never use the link in the message.
What should I do if I entered my card details?
Contact your bank straight away so they can block the card, change your RingGo password and any password you’ve reused, and forward the scam text to 7726.