Email scam claims to be City Traffic Collections Department

Accordign to the Columbia Police Department, residents have received an email from a City Traffic Collections Department (citycollections@travelalrets.com) stating that the recipient has a past due parking ticket and demanding payment of a delinquent parking fine.

The fake email tries to get victims to pay online.

The City of Columbia Parking Utility does not issue payments through email and does not have a Collections Department. Tickets are handled through the Municipal Court.

Anyone who receives this email scam should report the incident to the Columbia Police Department by calling 3-1-1.