Kennebunk police thought it was a parking scam. It turned out to be more complicated.
Kennebunk police said Monday that a “phony” parking ticket it flagged over the weekend as a possible scam actually appears to be a misplaced ticket from a private parking enforcement company.
Managers at a hotel called Saturday to report the possible scam after the ticket was found on a car in the hotel’s private parking lot, Sgt. Michael Raymond said.
The white and red ticket warns the recipient that they must pay a fine within 14 days using the scannable QR code in the center of the ticket. (Kennebunk parking citations are yellow, not red, police say.)
That prompted Kennebunk police to issue a scam warning about “phony” parking tickets.
Police now believe the ticket may have been legitimately issued by a private company — and moved to Kennebunk by whoever originally received it. The hotel doesn’t work with the company in question, Raymond said on Monday.
The fine print of the ticket notes that it was privately issued, not on behalf of a governmental authority. At the bottom of the ticket is a link to ParkingCollect.com, a private parking enforcement company based in South Portland.
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Parking Collect did not immediately respond to a voicemail or email seeking more details Monday.
Police have remained in contact with management from the hotel where the ticket was found, but that it doesn’t appear that anything was caught on camera, Raymond said.
While no other similar tickets have been reported in Kennebunk, he warned residents that if they’re ever unsure about a fine they’ve received, it’s always smart to check with local police.
Police are urging anyone else who found a similar ticket in Kennebunk to report it at 207-985-6121.
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Tagged: kennebunk police department, parking
Abigail is a community reporter for Kennebunk, Kennebunkport, Sanford, and Wells. She recently moved up to Maine from Connecticut after getting her bachelor’s degree in English/Journalism at the University. More by Abigail Driscoll
