There are reports that some Airdronians have received a text message on their phones alerting them of an alleged parking citation.

The text message appears to be sent out on behalf of the City of Calgary and asks residents to make a payment by clicking a link or risk having their driver's licence suspended. However, The Calgary Parking Authority has issued a warning, that this text message is a scam.

"We've been informed of text messages claiming to be from Calgary Parking requesting payments for unpaid tickets. Please be advised that Calgary Parking and The City of Calgary do not use text messages for ticket notifications or payment requests," the Calgary Parking Authority stated on its website.

Anyone who has received such text messages is asked to report them to the Calgary Police Service non-emergency line at 403-266-1234.

The text messages are one of several text scams that residents have received in the past several weeks. In mid-March, there were reports that residents were receiving text messages from supposed local numbers, relaying to them that they had been caught speeding in a school zone.

The text would ask residents to click a link to deal with the violation, rather than going to court. Local RCMP underlined that they do not do business in this manner. However, the speeding text scam was not localized to Airdrie. In a previous release, Red Deer RCMP stated that it appeared the scam was Canada-wide.

Mounties underlined that anyone who received the text should not click on the link and not make any payments to the website.

"... RCMP would like to remind the public that no government or police organization issues tickets via text messaging. If you receive any suspicious text messages do not reply and do not click any links. If you are unsure if a message or phone call is fraudulent, RCMP encourages you to contact the person/business/organization to confirm," Mounties stated.

If you suspect you have been a victim of fraud, it's best to contact your local RCMP detachment as well as the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre either by telephone at 1-888-495-8501 or online.

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