Paid parking in ski areas has been a point of contention since the resorts started implementing it.
As if skiing wasn’t expensive enough already, paying for parking has unfortunately become an expected part of the skiing experience in many places. After all, there is it is something that is said for the convenience of many paid lots. While you may not like it, odds are at some point you agreed to pay Vail Resorts, or whoever, $18 a day for parking, but what if that money wasn’t actually going to the resort?
On December 27, 2025, several stickers imitating PayByPhone signs with fake QR codes were found on pay parking terminals in Whistler’s Day Lots 1-5, in the Main Street parking areas, and in the Market parking lot off Lorimer Road.
The fraudulent QR codes directed users to a fake website that collected the payment, rather than to the real PayByPhone module. The Resort Municipality of Whistler (RMOW), which does not use QR codes for parking fees, discovered these codes fairly quickly, and they were all removed by December 28th.
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The Whistler Resort Municipality believes that the QR code distributor set up the fake website to receive payments from them in the form of credit card fraud.
RMOW urges anyone who scans the QR codes to contact their credit card companies immediately, report fraudulent activity, and cancel their card. Visitors who believe they paid for parking but were issued a citation can dispute the ticket here.
Whistler reminds all guests, once again, not to use QR codes to pay for parking fees.
“RMOW’s parking system is a secure system that is continuously monitored to prevent fraud and ensure that the information collected is protected to the highest possible industry standards,” RMOW writes. “Parking fee fraud is a known form of theft that has affected other municipal systems in BC”
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This story was originally published by Powder on December 30, 2025, where it first appeared in the News section. Add Powder as a Preferred Source by clicking here.