QR codes are everywhere now: menus, adverts, receipts, text messages. Scanning one opens a link you cannot see until after you scan, and that is exactly the gap scammers use, according to a consumer alert from the US Federal Trade Commission.
Where the bad codes turn up
- Stuck over a real code. The FTC describes scammers covering the codes on parking meters with their own.
- Inside a text or email with an invented reason to scan: a parcel that could not be delivered and needs rescheduling, a problem with your account that needs your details confirmed, or suspicious activity that means you must change your password.
Each story is built to make you hurry, so you scan and open the link without stopping to think.
What happens after the scan
The code can take you to a spoofed site that looks like the real one; log in there and the scammer has your details. It can also install malware that steals information from your phone.
Three habits that protect you
- Read the address before you open it, especially when the code is somewhere you did not expect. Look for a missing letter or two swapped letters that make it differ from a site you know.
- Do not scan codes from texts or emails you were not expecting, above all ones that demand you act now. If the message might be genuine, contact the company through a number or website you already know is real.
- Keep your phone and accounts locked down: update the operating system, and use strong passwords and multi-factor authentication.
Photo: A QR code sticker on a wooden post, deliberately blurred. By Tony Webster, CC BY 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons, edited by Kuwait One.
Source: US Federal Trade Commission consumer alert, “Scammers hide harmful links in QR codes to steal your information”, 6 December 2023, consumer.ftc.gov.
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