The city’s program will only use two methods for communicating about parking-related charges: the dreaded physical citation left on a vehicle’s windshield, and a letter delivered by the United States Postal Service if the physical citation goes unpaid. Charlotte does not ever send payment links via text, the release says.

The City of Charlotte is warning residents about fraudulent text messages being sent to residents regarding the on-street parking program. City officials say the texts falsely claim to be from the city and are notifying individuals about outstanding parking invoices and are requesting payments via a link.

A pay-to-park scam is targeting Charlotte drivers, saying they have to pay a parking fee to the city of Charlotte.