Estate agent apologises to LESA for parking ticket ad stunt
After the agency issues a warning, estate agent makes a public apology
Updated 3.15pm
Motorists were warned on Friday to check the legitimacy of parking tickets by the Local Enforcement System Agency (LESA), which said fraudulent parking tickets were being circulated.
In a Facebook post providing a sample image of a fraudulent ticket, the agency stressed such tickets were not genuine LESA notifications of parking contraventions.
“Be cautious and always double-check before making any payments”, it said.
The fake tickets were, however, part of a marketing campaign by a real estate agent.
"I sincerely apologise for any confusion caused. This was not a scam, but a creative marketing approach that I now understand may have been misinterpreted," Matthias Camilleri wrote in a comment posted beneath the LESA warning.
Camilleri noted that the QR code on the tickets directed users to his business Facebook page and that the back of the imitation parking tickets was an advert for his firm.
This is not the first time LESA warned users about potential scams; in May last year, the agency urged the public to be wary of scam messages sent from an overseas number claiming unpaid contraventions.