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The words Cleveland State University are in gold lettering on the real hangtags, as pictured here, but printed in black on the fakes.
CSU Parking Services seizes fake hangtags
By Christine Vogelgesang
While most students at Cleveland State University who park on campus purchase a parking tag from University Parking Services some students have tried to cheat the system with fraudulent hangtags.
According to University Parking Services Director John Oden, fall term usually has the highest number of student-produced phony hangtags.
“There are not too many fake tags in the spring, we usually see the most during the fall,” Oden said.
The fake hangtags are identifiable because the shiny gold part on the fake hangtag copies is black, not colored. As a result, Oden said that parking service personnel are able to find and fine the students who made their own hangtags.
Student Mathew Madrid knows people who decided to make hangtags instead of purchasing them from parking services.
“The people who made them would scan a copy of a real hangtag and print it out on their computer,” Madrid said. “With the copy they printed, they would glue it to an old hangtag so that it looked real, but they were caught later in the semester.”
Students who are caught violating the parking rules with counterfeit parking tags are subject to a “$150 fine, automatic tow and a violation notice sent to the Student Conduct Ward,” Oden said.
A parking hangtag costs $141 per semester.