{"id":1105,"date":"2019-04-06T19:33:31","date_gmt":"2019-04-06T19:33:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.syyhoaxanalyzer.com\/?p=1105"},"modified":"-0001-11-30T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"-0001-11-29T17:00:00","slug":"Bristol-Zoo-Car-Park-Attendant-Hoax","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.syyhoaxanalyzer.com\/?p=1105","title":{"rendered":"Bristol Zoo Car Park Attendant Hoax"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"color: #808080;\"><em>This story was first published on July 17th, 2009<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<h2>Outline<\/h2>\n<p>Message claims that a man posing as a car park attendant at Bristol Zoo collected unauthorised parking fees from zoo visitors for 25 years before absconding to Spain to live in luxury on the proceeds of his illegal activities. \u00a0 <\/p>\n<p><script async src=\"\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js\"><\/script><br \/>\n<!-- HS Net Top Content Responsive --><br \/>\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\n     style=\"display:block\"\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-0355887770822260\"\n     data-ad-slot=\"4870821038\"\n     data-ad-format=\"auto\"><\/ins><br \/>\n<script>\n(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\n<\/script><\/p>\n<h2>Brief Analysis<\/h2>\n<p>The information in the message is untrue. The story is a hoax that has been circulating via email, social networking and even some news outlets for several years.<\/p>\n<h2>Examples<\/h2>\n<div class=\"example\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.hoax-slayer.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/bristol-zoo-car-park-hoax-2015-2.jpg\" data-rel=\"penci-gallery-image-content\" ><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"20565\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/www.hoax-slayer.net\/bristol-zoo-car-park-attendant-hoax\/bristol-zoo-car-park-hoax-2015-2\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/www.hoax-slayer.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/bristol-zoo-car-park-hoax-2015-2.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"448,300\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"bristol-zoo-car-park-hoax-2015-2\" data-image-description=\"\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/www.hoax-slayer.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/bristol-zoo-car-park-hoax-2015-2-300x201.jpg\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/www.hoax-slayer.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/bristol-zoo-car-park-hoax-2015-2.jpg\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-20565\" src=\"https:\/\/www.hoax-slayer.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/bristol-zoo-car-park-hoax-2015-2.jpg\" alt=\"Bristol Zoo Car Parking hoax\" width=\"448\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.hoax-slayer.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/bristol-zoo-car-park-hoax-2015-2.jpg 448w, https:\/\/www.hoax-slayer.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/bristol-zoo-car-park-hoax-2015-2-300x201.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 448px) 100vw, 448px\" \/><\/a><br \/>\nOutside Bristol Zoo there is a carpark for 150 cars and 8 buses. For 25 years, it&#8217;s parking fees were managed by a very pleasant attendant. The fees were  \u00a31.40 for cars and  \u00a37 for buses. Then, one day, after 25 solid years of never missing a day of work, he just didn&#8217;t show up; so the Zoo Management called the City Council and asked it to send them another parking agent. The Council did some research and replied that the carpark was the Zoo&#8217;s own responsibility. The Zoo advised the Council that the attendant was a City employee.The City Council responded that the carpark attendant had never been on the City payroll.<\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile, sitting in his villa somewhere on the coast of Spain or France or Italy &#8230; is a man who&#8217;d apparently had a ticket machine installed completely on his own and then had simply begun to show up every day, commencing to collect and keep the parking fees, estimated at about  \u00a3560 per day \u00e2\u20ac\u201d for 25 years.<\/p>\n<p>Assuming 7 days a week, this amounts to just over 5 million pounds &#8230; and no one even knows his name.<\/p>\n<p>Haha.. brilliant!!<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<div class=\"example\">\n<p><b>Subject: Car park attendant ( Why didn&#8217;t I think of this )<\/b><\/p>\n<p>Apparently, a true story&#8230;<br \/>\nOutside Bristol Zoo, there is a car park for 150 cars and 8 coaches.<\/p>\n<p>It was manned by a very pleasant attendant with a ticket machine charging cars  \u00a31 and coaches  \u00a35.<\/p>\n<p>This parking attendant worked there solid for all of 25 years. Then one day, he just didn&#8217;t turn up for work.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Oh well&#8221;, said Bristol Zoo Management &#8220;we&#8217;d better phone up the City Council and get them to send a new parking attendant&#8230;&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Err no&#8221;, said the Council, &#8220;That car park is your responsibility&#8221;&#8230;<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Err no&#8221;, said Bristol Zoo Management, &#8220;the attendant was employed by the City Council, wasn&#8217;t he?&#8221;&#8230;<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Err NO!&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Sitting in his villa in Spain , is a bloke who had been taking the car park fees, estimated at  \u00a3400 per day at Bristol Zoo for the last 25 years&#8230;<\/p>\n<p>Assuming 7 days week, this amounts to just over  \u00a33.6 million&#8230;<\/p>\n<p>Fanbloodytastic&#8230;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2>Detailed Analysis<\/h2>\n<p>This widely circulated message tells the story of a clever conman who illegally collected money from visitors to Bristol Zoo in the UK by pretending to be a car park attendant. According to the message, the zoo assumed that the car park attendant was employed by the local city council so the conman was able to collect parking fees from visiting cars and coaches over a period of 25 years (23 years in some versions) making around  \u00a33.6 million in the process before absconding to Spain to retire in luxury.<\/p>\n<p>The message claims that the fraud was only uncovered when the attendant failed to appear one morning and zoo management contacted the council to arrange a replacement. \u00a0<\/p>\n<p><script async src=\"\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js\"><\/script><br \/>\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\n     style=\"display:block; text-align:center;\"\n     data-ad-format=\"fluid\"\n     data-ad-layout=\"in-article\"\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-0355887770822260\"\n     data-ad-slot=\"9162856233\"><\/ins><br \/>\n<script>\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\n<\/script><\/p>\n<p> It is certainly an amusing tale. Stories of canny swindlers tend to generate a lot of public interest, but in this case, there is not a shred of truth to the tale. In fact, the story is a hoax that has been circulating via email, social networking and even a few news and entertainment media outlets for over three years. A June 2009 article in Bristol&#8217;s Evening Post newspaper \u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/web.archive.org\/web\/20100305182426\/http:\/\/www.thisisbristol.co.uk\/news\/Urban-myth-Bristol-Zoo-parking-attendant\/article-1073841-detail\/article.html\">notes<\/a>:<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p><i>Touted as a genuine news article, the tale of a Bristol Zoo parking attendant who lined his own pockets with customers&#8217; cash for 23 years before going missing with the loot has set cyberspace alight.<\/i><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>But the Evening Post can confirm the story, which has been emailed to thousands of people across the globe in recent months, is nothing more than an urban myth \u00e2\u20ac\u201c and the real attendants say the joke is starting to wear thin.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Our newsroom, as well as the offices of Bristol Zoo, has been inundated with messages asking if the story is true, particularly as some versions say it has recently appeared in the Evening Post.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Management at Bristol Zoo Gardens has \u00a0<a class=\"norm\" title=\"Bristol Zoo parking attendant hoax\" href=\"https:\/\/web.archive.org\/web\/20090807123532\/http:\/\/www.bristolzoo.org.uk\/about\/news\/News1935\">denied<\/a> \u00a0that there has ever been any confusion about which entity controls car parking attendants. There are two car parks available at the zoo as well as nearby on-street parking. Parking<a href=\"https:\/\/www.bristolzoo.org.uk\/visitor-information\/facilities-and-accessibility\"> \u00a0information and pricing<\/a> for visitors \u00a0is published on the Bristol Zoo&#8217;s website:<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p><i>If you plan to travel by car &#8211; we do have two car parks at the Zoo. There is a  \u00a33 (cash only) charge for parking and a  \u00a31 charge for members.<\/i><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>On-street parking is also available on surrounding streets, as short walk from the entrance of the Zoo. These streets are within a residents&#8217; parking scheme area. Charges apply Monday to Friday, between 9am and 5pm. Free on evenings, weekends and Bank holidays.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Day visitors:  \u00a33 per car<br \/>\nMembers:  \u00a31 per car<br \/>\nCorporate, hospitality and business visitors:  \u00a33 per car<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Thus, not even the per-car fee supposedly charged by the swindler is correct and, although the main zoo car park \u00a0<a class=\"norm\" title=\"FAQ\" href=\"http:\/\/www.bristolzoo.org.uk\/zoo-information\/faqs\">does not accommodate coaches<\/a>, free coach parking is available in nearby streets. \u00a0 Moreover, it is absurd to suggest that even the most dedicated swindler could have managed to turn up for &#8220;work&#8221; seven days a week for 25, or even 23, years. Surely over such a time period, the bogus attendant would have taken at least a few days off due to illness or even pure boredom.<\/p>\n<p>The Evening Post notes that it published a version of the tale in 2007 as part of an article about urban myths timed to coincide with April Fools&#8217; Day.<\/p>\n<p><script async src=\"\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js\"><\/script><br \/>\n<!-- Third Content Ad Responsive --><br \/>\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\n     style=\"display:block\"\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-0355887770822260\"\n     data-ad-slot=\"1909104632\"\n     data-ad-format=\"auto\"><\/ins><br \/>\n<script>\n(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\n<\/script><\/p>\n<div align=\"center\"><script async src=\"\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js\"><\/script><br \/>\n<!-- HS Net Bottom AdLinks --><br \/>\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\" style=\"display: block;\" data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-0355887770822260\" data-ad-slot=\"1358951439\" data-ad-format=\"link\"><\/ins><br \/>\n<script>\n(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\n<\/script><\/div>\n<p><\/br><\/br> Original Source : <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hoax-slayer.net\/bristol-zoo-car-park-attendant-hoax\/\" target=\"_blank\">https:\/\/www.hoax-slayer.net\/bristol-zoo-car-park-attendant-hoax\/<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>This story was first published on July 17th, 2009 Outline Message claims that a man posing as a car park attendant at Bristol Zoo collected unauthorised parking fees from zoo visitors for 25 years before absconding to Spain to live in luxury on the proceeds of his illegal activities. \u00a0 Brief Analysis The information in [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6890,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1105","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-hoax-inggris"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.syyhoaxanalyzer.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1105"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.syyhoaxanalyzer.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.syyhoaxanalyzer.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.syyhoaxanalyzer.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.syyhoaxanalyzer.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1105"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.syyhoaxanalyzer.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1105\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.syyhoaxanalyzer.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/6890"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.syyhoaxanalyzer.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1105"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.syyhoaxanalyzer.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1105"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.syyhoaxanalyzer.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1105"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}