St. Louis Cardinals fans were bamboozled by a fake parking attendant during the Cardinals’ opening day game Thursday, according to a KSDK report. 

Fans reportedly pulled into a grassy lot near the Cardinals‘ downtown Busch Stadium and paid an attendant in a vest $40 to park in the lot, one fan told KSDK.

But when fans returned to their cars they discovered the city had ticketed them to the tune of $30 a pop. Over 100 people reportedly incurred the penalty, according to KSDK.

Cars ticketed at Cardinals’ home opener after fake attendants offered illegal parking https://t.co/4tcZs4RLKx

— KSDK News (@ksdknews) April 6, 2024

“Every single car in that lot had a ticket,” Julie Kujawa, who brought her four kids from Illinois to see the game, told KSDK.

The city, despite knowing about the potentially fraudulent parking peddler, defended its decision to ticket the cars as “justified,” according to KSDK.

“All our staff are identified in uniform and their vests state City of St. Louis Parking Division on the back of their vests. If someone is in an un-uniformed vest this is a fraudulent and unauthorized attempt to collect your money,” Felice McClendon, a communications officer in the St. Louis Treasurer’s Office told KSDK. (RELATED: MLB Superstar Cites Hilarious Reason Why He’s Retiring)

“Knowing what that means to people in the city and outside of the city to come to opening day at a Cardinals game and then to have 100 cars where we were parked alone get parking tickets is just crazy,” Kujawa also said.

What absolute garbage from the city of St. Louis. Your citizens are already the victims of an untenable parking situation and then, adding insult to injury, they also fell victim to a case of fraud. But instead of protecting its people, the city decided it was so hungry for revenue that it would gladly accept the $300 or whatever it made from the ordeal and take advantage of people who were already taken advantage of.

Talk about kicking people while they’re down.