Ironman event visitors warned of parking scam

Drivers visiting a town for a triathlon event are being warned to beware of bogus QR codes when parking.

Bolton Council said the fake codes had been found on pay-and-display machines around Bolton town centre and urged visitors to be vigilant.

The authority said council-run car parks only took payment by cash or through the RingGo app.

The fake QR codes have directed motorists to fraudulent websites to take payment.

Hundreds of people are expected to come to the town to watch or compete in the Bolton Ironman triathlon event, which takes place later.

A council spokesman said: "Our civil enforcement officers and machine engineers will continue to respond quickly when alerted to these fake stickers, and they have all been removed as far as we know."

They said the warning about ways to pay for parking only applied to car parking payment machines managed by Bolton Council "as some privately-managed car parks within the town may have other payment methods in use".

Greater Manchester Police previously warned there had been a "steep rise" in the use of the barcodes, which offer mobile phone users a quick way of accessing a website, since the coronavirus pandemic.

The force said criminals were using them as a "new way to defraud people".

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