NZTA toll text and parking QR code scams

The toll text

Since late 2022, New Zealanders have received huge volumes of texts claiming to be from NZTA Waka Kotahi, NZ Post, Inland Revenue or banks, saying a toll, fine or fee is unpaid and linking to a payment page. The Department of Internal Affairs said in 2023 it had received 140,000 complaints about this scam in seven months and that some victims lost their life savings.

The link leads to a convincing fake site that collects your card details, and sometimes your bank login. Some versions install malicious software.

The QR code

In its Cyber Security Insights report for April to June 2026, the National Cyber Security Centre warned about QR code phishing, noting public attention after incidents involving parking meters in Christchurch. Scammers stick their own QR code over the real one, so scanning it takes you to a fake payment page.

How to tell

You weren’t expecting it. A toll or fine you didn’t know about, arriving by text with a link, is a red flag on its own.
The link or QR code goes somewhere odd. Check the address before entering anything. Official sites end in .govt.nz or the company’s real domain.
The QR code looks stuck on. Look for a sticker over the original, or a code on a meter that normally uses an app.
Urgency. “Pay today or the fine doubles.”

What to do instead

Check tolls and fines through the official NZTA website or your council’s site, typed in yourself.
Pay for parking through the official app or the meter itself.
Forward scam texts to 7726, free, so the Department of Internal Affairs can block them.

If you’ve paid or entered details

Call your bank now and ask it to stop the card and watch for fraud.
Change passwords you entered, and anywhere you reused them.
Report it to Netsafe (0508 638 723) or the National Cyber Security Centre (0800 114 115).

Sources