Scanning A QR Code To Pay For Something Could Be Extremely Dangerous

During the COVID-19 Pandemic, a popular trend emerged amongst restaurants and restaurant chains that began to spread into all walks of life due to its inherent efficiency. Instead of receiving a physical menu when you entered a restaurant, businesses would instead place a QR code on the table for you to scan in order to access the menu. At the time this was initially done as a sanitary effort in order to reduce the spread of the COVID-19 virus. Today, due to its effectiveness, this method has become widely available for various methods of gaining access to something like scanning a QR code to pay for parking or renting a scooter.

However, while scanning QR codes has become commonplace as far as payment methods throughout most walks of modern life, it has also become a popular way for scammers to take advantage of unsuspecting people. That being the case, let's take a look at how something as innocent as scanning a QR code in order to pay for something could actually be extremely dangerous.

QR codes are everywhere. You want to access the menu at your favorite restaurant? Scan the QR code on the table. Looking to pay for parking? Scan the QR code on the parking sign. In this modern digital era where our phones could basically be considered a body part, pulling yours out to scan a QR code for whatever reason is not typically something you'd think twice about. However, due to a concerning recent trend that has emerged, it probably is indeed a good idea to double check before scanning a QR code.

The reason for this is that it has become a common trend for scammers to place a sticker of their own QR code over legitimate ones in public places. Then when an unsuspecting person scans this code and enters their credit card information, the scammer then receives that and steals all of their money. For obvious reasons, this would be a disastrous situation to get yourself into and an incredible pain to get yourself out of. That being said, the best way to avoid getting screwed over like this is by double checking any physical QR codes in public places before scanning them to see if they're legitimate or not. However, according to a recent article published by the Federal Trade Commission on their consumer advice website, unfortunately this is not the only way that scammers can use fake QR codes to take advantage of you.

Another way that scammers take advantage of widespread QR code usage is by sending people some form of urgent message that requires them to scan a QR code in order to solve the problem. While a fake sticker placed over the QR code on a parking sign is obviously a bit more difficult to spot than this, nonetheless, unfortunately people still fall for this type of digital fraud. What the scammers will do is send you an email or text alerting you that a package you recently ordered has been lost, or that you need to update your account information on a website. Once you enter your information on the fraudulent link, the scammer will then proceed to steal your information, drain your bank account, or any number of inconvenient methods of screwing you over.

The best way to avoid this is obviously by not scanning any QR code in a link that has been sent to you. You also always want to make sure that any alert of this type is sent from a legitimate source. For example, if you get an email that says you need to update your ESPN+ subscription and the email is sent by an address containing a group of randomly assorted numbers and letters, it's likely fraudulent. Also, if you get a text saying something like your UPS package went missing, make sure to actually check the tracking number for your package instead to check for any issues.