Urgent warning to drivers over fake parking apps being advertised on Google that trick you into paying HUNDREDS for unwanted subscriptions – here’s how to spot them

Parking tickets aren't the only way drivers can lose hundreds of pounds while leaving their cars in town.

Motorists have been urged to be wary of fake parking apps being advertised on Google, which trick you into paying for unwanted subscriptions.

any? He warns that these fraudulent ads often appear at the top of search results – and can even appear above legitimate sites.

Based on the results, what are they? It encourages drivers to avoid searching for apps on search engines, and use official app stores instead.

Lisa Webb, which one? A consumer law expert told MailOnline: 'Scammers hijacking Google and other search engines to trick consumers into paying for fake car parking is really worrying and could end up costing victims hundreds of pounds.

any? I found that Google search results frequently displayed ads for fake parking payment apps at the top of the search results.

Fraudsters create ads impersonating popular parking payment apps such as PayByPhone, JustPark and RingGo.

any? He discovered two separate sites — justtelephone.com and homeautomationinnovators.com — showing up as PayByPhone in Google Ads.

Google even placed these fraudulent ads above the legitimate results of the real PayByPhone website.

They both offered a “free download” but hid fine print at the bottom of the website, requiring unwary users to pay a monthly subscription.

By getting the free download, drivers could have to pay a monthly sum of £24.99 ($31.40) to an unnamed company for a “health and lifestyle package subscription.”

These sites have no affiliation with the real PayByPhone and have no permission to use the site's logo or assets.

Under the new Online Safety Act, which received royal assent in October, online platforms will be legally obligated to remove scams and harmful content.

However, which? It claims that Google has been uncooperative in removing fraudulent ads from its search results.

any? It says it alerted Google about an advertiser impersonating RingGo on November 15.

Three weeks later, what? He claimed the site was still impersonating RingGo and other parking payment apps.

Since at least August, Google has been aware of one fraudulent website, uk.apkpac.

However, which? It says it was still appearing at the top of search results on December 5.

Ms Webb added: “Including ad fraud in the Online Safety Act was a huge win for consumers. It is now up to Ofcom to develop a code of practice that will hold the tech giants to task and take strong enforcement action, including fines, if they break the law.” .

Google has a policy against any advertiser who deceives users by providing misleading information.

In 2022 alone, 5.2 billion ads had to be removed from Google search results for violating this policy.

Google has since taken action against these ads and MailOnline has found they are no longer displayed in search results.

A Google spokesperson told MailOnline: 'Protecting users is our top priority and we have strict advertising policies that govern the types of ads and advertisers we allow on our platforms.'

“We aggressively enforce our policies, and if we find ads that violate, we remove them.”

While which? I found that fake ads were most prevalent on Google, and were also present on other search platforms.

The researchers found that the same ad was on Microsoft's Yahoo and Bing sites.

As with ads on Google, there was a site called Trendy-apps.com pretending to be PayByPhone to trick users into signing up for a £24.99 ($31.40) monthly subscription.

In a statement to What?, Yahoo Search said it has partnered with Microsoft Bing and worked with them to block this advertiser.

To avoid being scammed, what? It recommends that drivers only download apps from the official Apple or Google app stores.

Users should avoid using search engines to search for applications as there is a greater risk of encountering fraudulent behavior.