Last Updated on: 27th December 2022, 03:41 am
Who is Damian Vela? Biography, Wiki
Damian Vela was arrested by Santa Cruz police who say he made fake parking tickets and put them on cars parked near the beach. The fake tickets had a QR code that victims could scan to “pay” for the fraudulent offers.
The man placed the fake quotes, which directed potential victims to a website to pay a fine, on the cars Wednesday night, Santa Cruz police said.
Damian Vela Age
His current age is 19 years.
Police Investigation Report
Damian Vela, of Watsonville, California, has been charged with illegal use of a computer system and attempted fraud, police said.
According to a department press release, when police spoke to him on Thursday, Vela denied any payment. Investigators don’t know how many counterfeit bills the man placed in the cars or how many victims were able to pay for the counterfeit tickets.
This is just the latest report of a fake parking ticket scam. In recent years, police departments across the country, including in Washington, D.C., Pensacola, Florida, and Jefferson City, Missouri, have warned motorists to beware of parking ticket fraud. The downsides can be emails or text messages, as well as the type of fake tickets in the cars that Santa Cruz drivers found.
Christopher Elliott, consumer advocate and author of “How to Be the World’s Smartest Traveler,” told CBS MoneyWatch in 2017 that technologies like portable printers make parking fraud easier and drivers need to be vigilant.
“There’s a certain arbitrariness to parking tickets and scammers take advantage of that,” Elliott said.
“You’ll get a ticket on your windshield, and you’ll probably pay for it.”
