Be very careful this summer with the QR code traffic ticket scam.

"Alicante City Council fine of 140 euros for parking on or next to a shelter, island, guardrail, or traffic channeling element." Be very careful if you park your car and a fine with this information appears on the windshield. It could be a scam .

In recent days, alleged fines impersonating the Directorate General of Traffic (DGT) with a QR code have been appearing in cities such as Malaga and Alicante. Scammers impersonate the Directorate General of Traffic, the Ministry of the Interior, or city councils in various cities in order to obtain victims' banking and personal information .

The fine contains a QR code that supposedly redirects to the DGT website to pay the fine. However, it's a fraudulent website unrelated to the agency's website. It's a pretext to request drivers' bank card details.

The DGT warns that it is not behind these fines and that it is a scam.

The General Directorate of Traffic warns on its X account that this is a scam. "Apart from the spelling mistakes and the fact that it's supposedly a fine from the ORA (Regional Traffic Authority), a local authority, there's no identification of either the vehicle or the owner, and it includes a QR code, which isn't the case with #DGT notifications. Don't even think about it, it's #FRAUD. #Don'tBiteIt," it states in the message it has published to alert citizens of this type of scam.

Alicante City Council has also done the same, warning locals on its website about this scam using vehicle fines with QR codes. "The official fines have a completely different design, titled 'Complaint Form' and with the City Council logo at the top," it states. In Malaga , the Local Police also warned of this scam in a statement . They point out, as a clue, that the fine amounts do not match the official amounts of the violations.

Furthermore, the statement highlights that these sanctions do not include basic information that appears in actual complaint reports, such as the officer's identification number, the location where the alleged violation occurred, or vehicle information.

Who can impose a sanction?

According to the DGT website , the competent authorities for imposing traffic fines in Spain are: the Directorate General of Traffic (DGT), the municipalities, and the autonomous communities with jurisdiction, namely Catalonia, through the Catalan Traffic Service; the Basque Country, through its Traffic Directorate; and Navarre.

"Depending on the road and the type of violation, the authority responsible for issuing the fine may vary . Remember that to process a fine, you should always contact the agency that issued it," the agency states.

The main means of contact to notify the driver is certified mail or Electronic Road Address (DEV) . However, to receive notifications via this latter route, the user must have previously registered .