🚨 Scene 1: The Shady Message
The text claims you’ve got an unpaid Penalty Charge Notice (PCN). You need to pay up before August 1st or risk extra fines, credit score damage, and possibly the wrath of some imaginary council officer.
They include a link, looking all official, to check and pay your fine. What a service. Right?
📛 Scene 1.1: The Shady Sender
Take a look at the top of that message.
See “420ac7”? That’s not a council name, that’s the group name for a message thread involving nine random strangers. This is phishing with a side of GDPR violation.
But here’s the big red flag:
The actual sender’s number starts with +225. That’s not Birmingham. That’s not Brighton.
That’s Ivory Coast, Africa.
Unless the UK government has outsourced its parking fine department to West Africa (spoiler: it hasn’t), this is as fake as a rubber lightsaber in a real duel.
🧑🤝🧑 Scene 1.5: Group Chat of Doom
Yes, you’re in a group chat. Yes, with complete strangers. Yes, everyone got the same message.
If this were real? This would be a massive data breach. No government body or legit company sends messages like this where you can see other recipients’ personal info.
Honestly, even Nigerian princes BCC better than this.
🎭 Scene 2: “Totally Not Fake” Website
Click the link (no, really — don’t), and you land on what looks like a GOV.UK site. It’s got the logo, the layout, even a payment form.
But look at that URL:
fine.pcneq.date
That’s not government. That’s a scammer with a cheap domain name and a Canva template.
But it all works, you tell it your Postcode and Car Reg (fake one used to demo)
💸 Scene 3: Just £20? How Kind…
After entering your postcode and reg number, you’re taken to a page with all your (fake) fine details and a £20 charge.
It feels harmless. You just want to get it sorted. That’s the trick.
If they send this to 1 million people, and just 0.1% fall for it, that’s 1,000 people.
1,000 × £20 = £20,000
No effort. No hacking. Just sheer volume and panic.
😱 Why Do People Still Fall For It?
Because:
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It looks real enough.
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The fine amount is small, so people just pay it to avoid hassle.
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Everyone’s had some dodgy parking moment recently.
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You’re busy, distracted, or half-awake when it hits your phone.
Add a group message, a slightly threatening tone, and a time limit, boom. Instant compliance.
🧠 What Can You Do?
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Check the sender. No legit UK authority texts you from the Ivory Coast.
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Look for other recipients. If you can see other people, it’s a scam and a data protection disaster.
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Examine the link. If it’s not gov.uk, back away slowly.
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Don’t panic. Panic leads to poor decisions and empty wallets.
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Send it to us. Our clients send us this stuff and get an answer straight away.
TL;DR:
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Got a text about an unpaid parking ticket? Take a breath.
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It looks like GOV.UK but the link goes to fine.pcneq.date — definitely not legit.
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Only asks for £20. Why? Because it’s just enough to make you pay without overthinking.
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They blasted the same message to a whole group of strangers at once — if this were legit, it’d be a data breach.
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It was sent from a random Ivory Coast number (+225…) and grouped under a weird name (“420ac7”) — not exactly the DVLA.
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Just 0.1% of 1 million people falling for it = £20,000. Easy money for lazy crooks.
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Our clients send us this stuff and get answers in seconds — no panic, no losses.
Final Thought
At TLMartin Ltd, we see this junk daily. If you’ve got us in your corner, you don’t need to play detective, just forward it on and get back to your day.
We help stop phishing attacks before they get to your phone, train your team to spot the fakes, and check anything suspicious so you don’t waste time (or money).
This? Straight to the bin.
If you’re with TLMartin Ltd, you wouldn’t even blink.