Authorities warned that QR codes are used in the latest phishing scam involving parking meters in several cities in the United States. According to authorities, those who scan the QR code will be directed to a fake website created by the scammer with the virus gathering the victims' personal information saved on their mobile phones.
QR Codes Used by Scammers
The warnings have been issued by police departments in San Antonio and Austin, Texas, over the holiday season. The story was first released by Charles Arthur on his blog The Overspill.
Police aid that they discovered several stickers with illicit codes appearing on the parking meters in the cities. A report by Click2Houston shows how one of the fraudulent QR codes directed victims to a site promising fast pay parking.
The police are now advising people who enter their credit card details into one of these fake sites to file a police report and contact their bank to reverse their payments.
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Even though it is labeled as outdated technology, QR codes have become visible in the U.S. over the past few years. The two-dimensional barcodes are able to store bits of data, but they are commonly used to direct users to URLs.
They have been a part of digital payments in Asia for years, but now they have been used in the country during the peak of the pandemic. It is used to link users to sites wherein they can check in to locations, check out restaurant menus, and report their vaccination status.
QR codes are convenient to use, but they lack security. Even though the code itself can't be comprised, it can be used to direct users to dangerous sites, just like the parking meter scam.
Humans can't read a QR code, and the URLs created by the mobile device is ambiguous. That makes them easy targets for malicious redirects.
The advice for avoiding the scams is the same for any fraud cases, and users need to review the URL of the website they have been directed to and check for misspellings or non-professional design.
As for the parking fees, users need to check for official apps which are used in the United States to make such payments, according to The Verge.
Houston's Warning Regarding QR Codes
One of the first cities to issue a warning to the residents in Houston. The city was one of the first cities to learn about the scam that is affecting people who are using on-street parking stations.
In the past three weeks, Houston officials said that parking enforcement officers in the city discovered QR codes. Just like in San Antonio and Austin, the QR codes are attached to the parking pay stations.
ParkHouston told KPRC 2 that they are seeing it places near them. There were five different locations where the workers found QR codes. Most of the codes were found east of downtown, and one was found downtown.
The public is warned not to use the parking meters located at 900 McKinney, which is on the north side of the block.
One is found at 1000 McKinney, which is located on the north side of the block. One is at 1300 Polk, which is located at the south side of the block, and at 600 Polk, which is located at the north side of the street.
Scammers have used QR codes since it was brought back in 2020. In August 2021, experts warned the public about the lack of security of QR codes as scammers found a loophole.
In December 2021, the FBI warned the public of scams involving QR codes.
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Written by Sophie Webster
