Beware of QR code fraud: How to protect yourself

I’m sure many people will be familiar with the daily sight of a QR code – whether it’s encouraging you to ‘find out more’ about a particular product or service, or it’s ordering food in a restaurant without the need to talk to a person to take your order!

But are you checking to make sure the code in question is a legitimate one, particularly as QR Code-related fraud is on the rise?

Just in case you aren’t familiar with QR codes, here’s an example of one – which, if you scan it, will take you to SCVO’s Route2wellbeing web portal – honest!

You just scan it with the camera on your mobile ‘phone, which pops up a weblink for you to click – fast and efficient, but certainly open to abuse.

‘Fake’ QR codes are on the rise – particularly in public places like car parks – scammers stick their fake code over the genuine one so that when you come to scan it to pay, for example, you get redirected to a site controlled by the scammers that takes your money (instead of the parking company – who you still owe) and/or steals your credentials to various websites to then ‘attack’ you later on!

So, how can you protect yourself? There’s some great advice and guidance on the Cyber Resilience Centre website – head over to https://www.wmcrc.co.uk/post/beware-of-qr-code-fraud-how-to-protect-yourself to see how you can minimise such scams (together with more handy hints and tips around cyber security).