Fulton Market visitors are being warned about fake parking attendants
The Fulton Market Association is warning Chicago drivers about fake parking attendants confronting drivers in incidents that have sometimes turned heated.
The group, which represents businesses in the Fulton Market District and West Loop, said scammers are charging people $20 to use private lots and even free street parking spots, when they have no authority to do so.
Surveillance video from one West Loop business caught a man dressed in a bright yellow vest and holding a flashlight shuffling cars into a private parking lot two weeks ago after midnight.
It's a situation the Fulton Market Association said has been going on the last three months, mostly on weekends. Each car gets charged $20.
The association's president, Roger Romanelli, said the scammers are charging people to park in three lots near Justine and Lake streets.
"We really want to solve this problem," he said.
According to the group, this occurs during the weekends between 9 p.m. and 3 a.m.
It is unclear how many people are involved in the scam.
Drivers are being advised that if they encounter a fake attendant, they should stay in their cars, lock their doors, and call the police.
Romanelli said more than 100 drivers will fall for the scam each night, and he has seen it himself.
"I saw their sophisticated scam, which includes fake security hats and fake security shirts, and they have flashlights, and they go up to people, and they say, 'Hey, it costs $20 to park here,'" he said.
Romanelli said the scammers even make people pay to park in unmetered spaces on the street.
He said a nearby nightclub does have security guards who survey the area, but surveillance video shows security guards driving off after the vested scammers approach.
Romanelli said there's a reason they are not confronting the issue.
"Even though the private security guards are there on site, the fake parking lot attendants still insist that they get to control who gets to park there, and some of these people there's been hard some words and almost physical violence over the last couple weeks," he said.
The association has been working with private lot owners and Chicago police to put forward a strategic plan for the community, but Romanelli said it will take to time to implement, which is why he wants people who work, live and come out to the area to be aware.
Romanelli said police have put the area on a special watch.
The association said they told scammers to leave the lots at one point, but they shifted their operation to city streets.
CBS News Chicago reached out to police for a statement, but has not yet received a response.
