Mayor Kirk Watson | City of Austin website
Mayor Kirk Watson | City of Austin website
AUSTIN, Texas – The City of Austin has received reports from at least three users in the past 24 hours that a website claiming to be the City’s paid parking application requested their credit card information but would not allow them to initiate a parking session.
Austin Transportation and Public Works Department staff investigated the claims and found that a sponsored website that is not the City's appears at the top of Google search results for “Park ATX” on a mobile browser.The City has made its Park ATX vendor, Passport, aware of the fraudulent website and reported the issue to Google. However, as of 9:30 a.m. Friday, Jan. 5, the sponsored advertisement remained active.
Images below show how the fraudulent website appears in search results, as well as how the fraudulent website appears when users visit it.
Users are encouraged to only search for the “Park ATX” app via the Google Play and Apple App Store, not via their web browser. The website impersonating Park ATX appears as am5.com.
Links to download the official Park ATX app on iOS and Android are available at the City's website, AustinTexas.gov/ParkATX. The app allows users to pay, extend and manage their on-street parking sessions using their mobile device.
About Austin Transportation and Public Works Department
The Transportation and Public Works Department provides safe, reliable and accessible mobility services for all Austinites. Visit AustinTexas.gov/TPW.
Original source can be found here.
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