Heads Up: Watch Out for This Fake RingGo Parking Fine SMS Scam

If you’ve recently received a text message claiming you have an "outstanding parking transaction" with RingGo, don't panic—and do not click the link.

A convincing new SMS scam is circulating across the UK, targeting motorists with fake unpaid parking fee notices designed to steal personal and financial details. Here is everything you need to know about how this scam works and how to protect yourself.

What the Scam Text Looks Like

The scam text attempts to create a false sense of urgency regarding late fees and administrative processing.

Scam Message Text:

"RingGo – Outstanding Parking Transaction Reminder

We identified an unpaid parking transaction during recent parking record reconciliation. Resolving this outstanding amount early avoids continuous late charges and extended administrative processing.

Access our official website, submit your vehicle registration number, check parking session logs and complete payment.

Official website link: https://ringgoiy-co[.]top/uk

(Simply reply with “Y”, then close this message and reopen it to activate the link. If the link still does not work, please copy it and paste it directly into Safari.)

Please settle payment soon to prevent further administrative processing as stated in our parking terms and conditions.

Thank you for your cooperation. RingGo Customer Services"

Red Flags to Watch Out For

While the formal language might look official at first glance, several clear warning signs give it away:

1. Suspicious Web Address (URL): The legitimate RingGo website is ringgo.co.uk. The scam message directs you to a fake domain (ringgoiy-co.top), which is designed to clone the real login page and harvest your card details.

2. The "Reply Y" Trick: Asking recipients to reply with a letter "Y" or a number is a common trick used by scammers to bypass automated spam filters on modern smartphones.

3. Vague Details: The text does not mention your actual vehicle registration, where you allegedly parked, or the specific date of the charge.

4. Urgency and Threats: Threatening "continuous late charges" is a standard high-pressure tactic used to make people act before thinking.

What to Do If You Receive This Text

• Do not click the link or copy it into your browser.

• Do not reply to the text message (even with "Y").

• Delete the message immediately.

• Verify directly: If you are genuinely unsure whether you owe a parking fee, open the official RingGo app installed on your phone or go directly to ringgo.co.uk by typing the address yourself.

How to Report It in the UK

Help stop these scammers by reporting the message:

• Forward the SMS to 7726: This is a free UK reporting service run by Ofcom. Forwarding suspicious texts helps mobile network operators investigate and block fraudulent numbers.

• Report to Report Fraud: You can report scam texts and phishing attempts online to Report Fraud (the UK’s national fraud reporting center) or forward suspicious texts to 7726..

Stay safe on the roads—and on your phone! Feel free to share this post with friends and family who use cashless parking apps.

Outlawing the Outlaws: How the UK’s SIM Farm Ban is Shutting Down Bulk Fraud

The UK is set to become the first country in Europe to officially ban the possession and supply of "SIM farms".Passed under the landmark Crime and Policing Act 2026, this legislation directly outlaws the physical tools criminals use to orchestrate bulk text message scams, marking a major leap forward in the fight against cyber-enabled fraud.

With fraud accounting for more than 40% of all reported crime in England and Wales, the ban provides law enforcement with a crucial weapon to disrupt scammers at their source.

What is a SIM Farm?

Also known as a SIM box, a SIM farm is a physical electronic device capable of holding five or more SIM cards simultaneously or interchangeably.

By connecting these boxes to a computer, fraudsters can send thousands of text messages or place automated phone calls at the touch of a button. Previously, these low-cost devices were easily purchasable online with zero identity verification, making them highly accessible to criminal gangs.

How Criminals Exploit Them

Before this legislation, SIM farms served as the engines behind some of the UK’s most persistent scam campaigns:

• Industrial-Scale Smishing: Criminals use them to blast out hundreds of thousands of fake parcel-delivery notifications, tax rebate warnings, or bank alerts in minutes.

• Creating Fake Accounts: Scammers use SIM farms to rapidly receive SMS verification codes, allowing them to mass-generate "verified" fake profiles on social media and messaging apps.

• Evading Detection: By routing messages across many different PAYG (pay-as-you-go) SIM cards, criminals could easily bypass standard telecom security filters.

How the Ban Helps Protect the Public

The new law introduces a powerful shift in how the police can prosecute fraudsters.

Old System	Under the Crime and Policing Act
Proof of Intent Required: Police had to catch fraudsters actively using the devices to commit a scam to secure a prosecution.	Illegal to Possess: Simply possessing, importing, or supplying a SIM farm without a legally proven, legitimate reason is now a criminal offence in its own right.
No Barriers to Entry: Devices were cheap, unregulated, and widely available to purchase online without ID checks.	Heavy Penalties: Offenders face unlimited fines in England and Wales, and a £5,000 fine in Scotland and Northern Ireland.
Voluntary Industry Blocklists: Networks tried to block numbers, but criminals could quickly swap SIM cards.	Stops the Supply: Shuts down the local distribution of the hardware itself, forcing criminals to use more expensive, easily tracked web alternatives.

Legitimate Exceptions: The law does include protections for legitimate industries that use SIM multiplexers—such as public transport Wi-Fi routing, emergency broadcasting services, and telecom network testing.

By combining this ban with Ofcom's new rules restricting text volumes on PAYG cards, the UK is successfully dismantling the cheap, high-volume infrastructure that has plagued mobile users for years.

Ofcom’s rules target a major loophole used by international scammers. Scammers abroad know we are far more likely to answer a call displaying a familiar UK mobile number (+447) than an unknown international country code.

Stopping this trick—known as Caller ID spoofing—is technically much harder for mobile numbers than it is for landlines. This is because roaming is a legitimate feature; a real UK mobile user needs to be able to make calls from Spain or the US and still display their genuine +447 number to friends back home. (Ofcom)

To solve this, Ofcom has introduced a clever two-pronged strategy targeting both network-level blocking and a new "withhold and verify" protocol.

1. Stopping Landline Spoofing (The Foundation)

To understand how Ofcom is tackling mobile numbers, it helps to look at what they have already successfully rolled out for landlines.

• Blocking Network Numbers: Telecoms providers must block international calls where the Network Number (the hidden background data showing where a call is physically routed from) is disguised as a UK landline.

• Blocking Presentation Numbers: Providers must block calls from abroad that try to display a UK landline as a Presentation Number (the caller ID number you actually see on your screen).

• The Result: When BT voluntarily piloted this rule, they successfully blocked up to 1 million scam calls a day from entering their network.

2. The New Mobile Spoofing Rules: "Withhold and Verify"

Because direct blocking would accidentally cut off legitimate UK tourists calling home from abroad, Ofcom’s latest guidance introduces a dynamic verification model:

      Incoming International Call (carrying a UK +447 number)
                                │
                                ▼
         Can the UK home network verify the SIM is roaming?
                     /                      \
                   YES                       NO
                   /                          \
                  ▼                            ▼
        [ Allow Caller ID ]           [ Withhold Caller ID ]
     Displays "+447..." to user      Displays "Number Withheld"

• Automatic ID Withholding: If an incoming call originates from an international network but presents a UK mobile (+447) number, the UK gateway provider must automatically strip away the caller ID and display the call as "Number Withheld" or "Unknown".

• The Roaming Verification Bypass: The original, genuine UK caller ID will only be restored if the recipient's home network can securely verify that the customer's actual SIM card is genuinely roaming on an overseas partner network.

• Protecting Legitimate Businesses: If a legitimate UK business operates an offshore call centre, they can only present their UK business number if they route their calls through verified, authenticated VoIP or cloud-PBX systems that prove their legal connection to a UK network.

Why This is Highly Effective

While scammers can still physically place the call, they can no longer trick you by displaying a fake, trusted UK mobile number.

Instead, their call will show up on your screen as "Withheld" or "Unknown." Because only 9% of UK consumers say they are likely to answer an unknown or withheld international call, the financial incentive for overseas criminal networks to target the UK is heavily disrupted.

Important: While these measures block a massive portion of automated spam, keep exercising caution with unexpected calls from withheld numbers, and never share security codes or transfer money over the phone.

 

Ofcom Announces Tough New Rules to Defeat Mobile Scammers

Mobile phone users in the UK are set to receive much stronger protection from scam texts and "spoofed" calls, following a robust package of measures finalised by Ofcom today.

With fraud making up roughly 45% of all reported crime in England and Wales, these new rules aim to shut down the gaps that international criminal gangs exploit to target British consumers and businesses.

How scammers exploit mobile networks. Source: ISP Review

 

Why Now? The Scale of the Problem

• The Cost: In 2025 alone, victims in the UK lost a staggering £1.28 billion to fraudsters.

• The Reach: Four in ten (40%) UK mobile users report receiving at least one suspicious message in the last three months.

To address this, the UK communications regulator is introducing strict new requirements for mobile providers to intercept scams at their source.

How the New Rules Work

The strategy splits mobile scams into two main categories: person-to-person (P2P) and business (A2P) messaging, applying targeted rules to block both.

1. Person-to-Person (P2P) Scams

These occur when a fraudster uses a standard SIM card to impersonate a friend or family member in distress (e.g., the infamous "Hi Mum" text).

• Action taken: Providers must collect scam data from customers and anti-fraud organisations, block identified numbers, and dynamically filter out messages containing known malicious weblinks or phone numbers in transit.

• Volume Limits: Strictly limiting the number of texts that can be sent from pay-as-you-go SIM cards to prevent automated mass-messaging.

2. Business Messaging Scams

This is where scammers hijack or fake corporate sender names (like bank or courier names) to make their phishing links look authentic.

• "Know Your Customer" (KYC): Strict background checks on new businesses before they can send mass messages.

• Sender ID Verification: Providers must verify that the business sending a text actually owns the sender ID (e.g., stopping a sender claiming to be a delivery company if they are registered as a local hair salon).

• Incident Management: Swiftly rooting out scammers and holding platforms accountable if they fail to perform proper due diligence.

Cracking Down on "Spoofed" Foreign Calls

Additionally, Ofcom is tackling the menace of international calls that disguise themselves with UK mobile numbers to trick people into answering.

Under the updated guidance, UK telecoms networks must withhold caller ID displays for any incoming international call mimicking a UK mobile number—unless the network can prove the caller is a legitimate UK customer roaming abroad.

What You Can Do

While these network-level defences will significantly reduce the number of scam messages slipping through, some may still occasionally bypass filters.

Important: If you receive a suspicious text, call, or message, you can help train the network filters by forwarding the message or reporting the number to 7726 (which spells "SPAM" on an alphanumeric keypad). This service is completely free and helps providers quickly shut down active scam runs.

If you have fallen victim to a scam and lost money, report it immediately to Action Fraud (by visiting www.reportfraud.police.uk or calling 0300 123 2040) or to Police Scotland by calling 101.

Source: Ofcom 

A Safer Online World for Our Children: Ofcom's New Protections are Here!

As parents, we all want to ensure our children are safe, no matter where they are – and that increasingly includes the online world. It's a place of incredible learning, connection, and fun, but also one with its own set of unique risks. That's why the news from Ofcom, the UK’s online safety regulator, is such a welcome development.

New, ambitious safety standards for tech firms are now in place, promising a significantly safer online experience for children across the UK. This isn't just about giving us, as parents, peace of mind; it's about making the online world a better, more responsible place for our kids.

Ofcom understands that being online is simply part of everyday life for children today. They’ve engaged with countless children and parents to understand how we use these services and what our concerns are. The goal is to ensure children can continue to enjoy the immense benefits of the internet, while holding websites, social media platforms, games, and apps far more accountable for the safety of their young users.

What Do These New Measures Mean for Your Child’s Online Safety?

These new rules are designed to bring about a major step forward in protecting children from the most harmful content and activities online. Here’s a breakdown of how they will make a difference:

• Effective Age-Checks: No more easy access to harmful content. Platforms must now implement robust age verification to prevent children from seeing things like pornography, self-harm, eating disorders, or suicide content.
• Safer Feeds: Algorithms are powerful, and now they'll be working for our children's safety. Platforms must ensure that harmful content isn’t recommended to children in their feeds.
• Fast Action: When harmful content is identified, sites and apps must have processes in place to review, assess, and swiftly remove it.
• More Choice and Support: Children will have greater control over their online experience. This includes the ability to indicate content they dislike, accept or decline group chat invitations, block and mute accounts, and disable comments on their own posts. Crucially, there will be supportive information available for children who have encountered or searched for harmful content.
• Easier Reporting and Complaints: Reporting inappropriate content or making a complaint to a platform must be straightforward for children, and providers should respond with appropriate action. Terms of service also need to be clear and understandable for young users.
• More Responsibility: Every online service will now have a named individual responsible for children's safety, and a senior body must annually review the safety measures in place.

It’s important to note that these measures build upon existing rules to protect users from illegal online harms, such as grooming. And here's the powerful part: it doesn't matter where a company is based. If a site or app can be accessed by children in the UK, these laws apply, and Ofcom is ready to enforce them.

What Can You Do as a Parent?

While the primary responsibility for keeping children safe online now firmly rests with tech firms, parents still have a vital role to play. We know that many children unfortunately encounter harmful content or activity online, and it can have serious impacts. Here are some top tips to help manage the risks:

• Talk Regularly: Open up conversations with your children about what they're doing online. Encourage them to tell you if they see anything that makes them feel uncomfortable or that they think is harmful.
• Real Age Registration: Ensure your children register with online services using their real age. This helps platforms filter content appropriately for their age group.
• Know How to Report: Make sure your children know how to report inappropriate or harmful content, how to block accounts, and encourage them not to share such content themselves. If content is illegal, report it to the police. (Remember, Ofcom cannot deal with individual complaints about online content.)
• Utilise Parental Controls: These are incredibly useful tools for monitoring and limiting screen time, and what your children can access online. The Ofcom video (below) explains Parental Controls.

There are also excellent resources available from various organisations that can provide further support and advice:

• The Safer Internet Centre: Packed with information to help you keep your child safe online.
• The NSPCC Online Safety Hub: Offers advice for both parents and children, including tips on how to initiate those important online safety conversations.
• Internet Matters: Provides information, advice, and even a tailored digital toolkit to help your family navigate the digital world.

The Online Safety Act: The Bigger Picture

Today's measures are part of the broader Online Safety Act, a landmark set of laws designed to protect everyone from illegal content online, and specifically to protect children from harmful content. It legally obliges tech firms to prioritise their users' safety and grants Ofcom the power to enforce these laws, including taking action against companies that fail to comply.

Crucially, the Act applies to all sites and apps that children could use, regardless of the device they're accessed on. It doesn’t prevent children from using social media or set a minimum age for it. Instead, it demands that social media companies consistently enforce their own age limits and protect their child users.

While the Act doesn't cover parental decisions about smartphone ownership, the changes that sites and apps will have to implement as a result of these rules will undoubtedly make the online world a safer place for children of all ages.

This is a significant step forward, and a promise Ofcom is making to parents. Let’s work together to ensure our children can enjoy the digital world safely and responsibly.

Source: Ofcom (24 April 2025)