SEC Championship warning: Drivers warned of fake parking tickets near Atlanta's Mercedes-Benz Stadium
ATLANTA - Drivers warned of fake parking tickets near Atlanta's Mercedes-Benz Stadium ahead of SEC game
As Atlanta gears up for a bustling weekend with the SEC Championship game, one driver has a warning after discovering a fake parking ticket on her car.
Ashton Merriweather, an Atlanta native, said she found the fraudulent ticket while parked legally near Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
"I noticed that this ticket was on my car," Merriweather said.
Having lived in the city her whole life, she is no stranger to parking tickets.
"I've gotten boots, and I've gotten tickets before," she said. But this one, she explained, stood out as unusual. "This one was a little sketchy. It does have a QR code at the bottom," Merriweather said.
A parking citation from ATLPlus
Her suspicions were confirmed after scanning the QR code, which led her to an individual’s PayPal account.
"It goes to someone's personal PayPal account," she explained. Adding to the oddity, she noted, "Yeah. And then it also had a Gmail account name at the top of it."
Merriweather looked around the area and realized several other cars had received the same fake tickets. "It was probably about 20 cars in a row where the tickets were," she said.
After sharing her experience with the Instagram account @ATLScoop, other drivers came forward with similar complaints, and they noticed the tickets shared identical details. "I noticed our ticket number and the issue ID number was the exact same," Merriweather said.
A parking citation by the Atlanta Police Department.
The Atlanta Police Department has since issued a reminder to the public, explaining the differences between legitimate and fake parking tickets. Official city parking tickets include an envelope with payment instructions and direct users to the authorized website, ATLPlusMobility.com, rather than any third-party payment platform like PayPal.
As a lifelong Atlantan and someone who has worked downtown for a decade, Merriweather urged visitors to remain vigilant. "People who are not from here, obviously the SEC game will be in two days," she warned, emphasizing the importance of staying cautious during high-traffic events.
Authorities remind the public that Atlanta Police do not issue parking tickets. They are handled by a separate agency.
If anyone receives a suspicious parking ticket, police advised them to report it by calling 311.
The Source: The Atlanta Police Department and ATLPlus provided the details on the fake tickets. FOX 5's Rob DiRienzo spoke with those who travel around downtown Atlanta for this story.