Scammers using fake QR codes on parking meters to con Scots drivers
Scammers are using fake QR codes on parking meters to dupe Scots out of cash across the country, experts have warned.
Trading Standards Scotland issued a warning after reported cases of 'quishing' in Perthshire, just weeks after figures revealed a 14-fold increase in scams linked to the codes designed to be scanned by mobile phones in the space of five years.
The watchdog has also investigated reports of fake barcodes being used in Aberdeenshire, Argyll and Bute, Edinburgh, Dundee, Glasgow, South Lanarkshire and East Lothian council areas.
Victims found fake codes had been stuck on top of legitimate codes on parking meters, directing them to sites aimed at stealing data, installing malware, or tricking users into giving away sensitive information.
The scam comes at a time when organised crime gangs have been identified as being behind a sharp rise in QR frauds.
Trading Standards Scotland said: 'QR codes are commonly used in car parks or at electric car charging points to allow people to pay without using cash. However, in some areas, criminals are sticking their own codes on top of the legitimate ones on parking meters.
'There have been recent reports from Perthshire of stickers with scam QR codes being stuck onto parking meters. The stickers have the logo of parking app RingGo, but lead to a malicious website which is designed to gather customers' payment and personal details.
'Scanning a fake QR code could also allow scammers to access other functions and apps on your phone. In addition, anyone who scans a scam QR code in a car park will not realise that they have not in fact paid for their parking, and so could also end up being fined by the council or owner of the car park.'
In April, the national fraud reporting centre, Action Fraud, received 1,386 reports of people being targeted last year using QR codes, compared with 100 in 2019.
Contactless payment hotspots - like parking meters and restaurant menus - have been reported as common targets.
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Over the past five years, Action Fraud received almost 3,000 reports in total.
Katherine Hart, lead officer at the Chartered Trading Standards Institute, said the reporting centre had seen 'huge amounts lost this way', with people's life savings being drained by finance criminals.
Hart said quishing was significantly under-reported and now presented a 'huge challenge' to authorities around the world.
Trading Standards Scotland said most councils don't use QR codes on their parking meters and have issued advice on how to avoid the scam.
The RAC advises to avoid using the codes altogether when making a payment at a council-owned car park, electric vehicle charge points and private car parks, instead using an official app downloaded from your smartphone's app store.
If you do decide to use the QR code, check to see if it has been stuck over another code.
Review the preview of the QR code's URL before opening it to see if it appears legitimate.
Make sure the website uses HTTPS rather than HTTP, doesn't have obvious misspellings and has a trusted domain.
If you are worried that you have made a payment to a scam website after scanning a QR code, check your bank transactions and contact your bank.
Victims are urged to contact the police and report incidents to National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC).
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