Received a parking penalty charge by text. Think carefully before you respond as this will be a scam. Quite simply, just ignore it.

Through their Community Messaging Service, North Yorkshire Police have, this weekend issued a very concise, clear and stark warning that such messages are fake. Denise Booth, (NYP, PCSO, Harrogate Outer) says “We have had reports of people receiving texts to say they owe parking fines with details to make a payment. Please beware, this is a scam”.

It is probably best to remember that it would be incredibly unusual to receive a text about a parking fine if there had not been a ticket on your car in the first place and that ticket would normally have included information on how to pay.

Thousands of text messages have been sent to mobile phones across the UK, where the scammers claim to be from the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) and certainly there has been much chatter on local social media from mobile phone users reporting receipt of such communications.

The receiver is informed that they have a ‘parking penalty charge, and that if they do not pay on time, that they might be banned from driving, issued with a large fine, or even be taken to court'.

Following the first scam text, a second message is often sent with a threat along the lines of ‘today is the last day to pay your ticket.

The DVSA have reiterated that they do not issue parking fines to drivers in the UK.

The messages include a link to an on-line payment option, which, if followed, will have the inevitable result of money being taken from a personal account for an offence that was not even committed in the first place. The long-term implications could be even worse as scammers could sell on, or use, those bank or personal details elsewhere.

The RAC advise “To be safe rather than sorry, we’d advise any recipients of the text to first check if they need to pay a fine with the authority rather than following the URL in the SMS.

“If a fine is due, ask for the payment options and, if you choose to pay it online, make sure the website is the genuine one and that any details you enter are sent securely.”

So check, check and then check again, stay alert and don't let these scammers get away with this.