(Memphis) We’re On Your Side with a warning: Be careful who you give your money to the next time you’re looking for a parking space downtown.
Police busted two people in the last two days who they say were pretending to be parking attendants.
Police say both of the scammers were busted in parking lots on Main Street.
News Channel 3 talked to those in the parking business in Memphis and they say they have to battle these fake parking attendants on a daily basis.
“It happens every day,” said Kennith Evans, the general manager for Premier System Parking.
Evans oversees 14 parking lots and 12 garages in downtown Memphis and says what Joe Jackson and Seaphus Clark are accused of doing is nothing new.
“Just the other day we had to run down to one of our lots because a woman felt like she was being scammed and she was indeed.”
Scammed just like a woman Sunday, who police say Clark got $20 out of pretending to be a parking attendant at Main and Peabody.
Then the next day, at Main and Beale, Jackson was busted for doing the same thing.
“Have you ever parked in a parking lot and wondered if you gave your money to a scammer?” asked reporter Sabrina Hall.
“Yes,” said Susan Lindberg, who was visiting from Chicago.
“Do you know how to tell a fake parking attendant from a real one?” asked Hall.
“No,” she said.
“No. There is no way you can really tell for sure,” said her husband Ed.
Evans says that’s not true, and there are ways you can tell if you are doing business with the real thing.
“You can always ask for an ID and where he works and if he doesn’t have it on him, make him show it to you,” said Evans. “Make him show you a legitimate ticket with the companies name on it. And he should have a full uniform on.”
If you ever pull into a lot where there is a meter, Evans says they never have attendants that will take your money and put it in there for you, so don’t fall for that.
“They act like they are putting money in the meter and they leave with the person’s money.”
Something to keep in mind next time you’re hunting for a parking space.
Jackson is still in jail on a $100 bond. Clark has already bonded out.