Czech police warn of parking‑app and bank phone scams targeting citizens

Police in the Czech Republic have reported a surge in fraudulent SMS messages that appear to come from the parking‑app provider EasyPark. Victims receive a link to a fake payment page, sometimes paying a small amount such as 20 CZK before their accounts are drained of thousands of crowns. The Liberec‑region police are investigating and advise users not to click links, to verify payments in the official EasyPark app or on the company’s website, and to report suspicious messages.

In a separate case, a Czech woman named Kateřina described a phone‑based bank fraud. She was contacted by callers claiming to be from her bank and later the Czech National Bank, who sent her a link to a spoof government site and tried to induce her to transfer money to a fraudulent account. She recognized the red flags, avoided the transfer and reported the incident. Both episodes highlight increasingly sophisticated phishing tactics, prompting authorities to issue repeated warnings to verify any unsolicited payment requests.