

They then ask you to kindly pay on their behalf-say, $5 USD-by scanning a QR code with their bank’s app after they hand you the money. Sadly, that ends up with you parting with a lot more than $5.Īnd then last week, the Austin Police Department in Texas released a scam alert on Twitter about “pay-to-park” scams involving a QR code that directs users to a phish.

Be extra vigilant when faced with a QR code Now, the FBI has released a public service announcement (PSA) about criminals using malicious QR codes. QR codes provide contactless access to a product or service, and they’ve proven useful and very convenient especially with the pandemic still ongoing. The problem is that there’s no way of distinguishing between a genuine code and a malicious one. Cybercriminals know this too and have capitalized on it. “Cybercriminals tamper with both digital and physical QR codes to replace legitimate codes with malicious codes,” notes the FBI alert. “A victim scans what they think to be a legitimate code but the tampered code directs victims to a malicious site, which prompts them to enter login and financial information. Access to this victim information gives the cybercriminal the ability to potentially steal funds through victim accounts.” #Free activation code for malwarebytes v2015 code# QR codes can also be embedded with malware.

