by Criminals use fraudulent QR codes in Parkcarks to steal personal and financial information, and warned action fraud.
Almost 3.5 million GBP were lost due to QR code fraud with more than 780 reports on “Quishing” to the British National Reporting Center for fraud and cybercrime between April 2024 and April 2025.
“Quying”, also known as QR code -phishing, is a kind of cyber attack in which QR codes are used to get individuals to visit fraudulent websites or download malware.
Fraudulent QR codes are most frequently used in parking spaces, with criminal stickers using to manipulate the scancodes already available on parking machines.
The fraud is also used on online shopping platforms, on which sellers have received a QR code by e -mail to check the accounts or receive the payment for items sold.
Some phishing attacks have pronounced themselves as HMRC or other British government programs that aim at QR codes in order to steal personal and financial details, as reports show.
People are asked to remain vigilant and to check QR codes to see whether they are malicious or manipulate yourself before scanning online or in public spaces.
Claire Webb, deputy director of action fraud, said: “QR codes are becoming more and more common in everyday life, whether it is paid for parking or an e -mail in which he is asked to check an online account. However, the reporting shows that cyber -criminals are increasingly using the public from their personal and financial information.
“We ask people to stop and check before scanning QR codes to avoid that he will become a victim of quishing. Pay attention to QR codes that may have been manipulated in open rooms, or e -mails and texts that could contain rogue code. If you have doubts, contact the organization directly.”
Although QR codes that are used in pubs and restaurants can usually be safely scanning, those in open rooms such as train stations or parking spaces can be a higher risk.
Action fraud proposes to search for signs that codes may have been manipulated, e.g. B. a sticker over a legitimate QR code.
If you are not sure, it is best not to scan the QR code at all and instead find the official website or app of the organization to which you want to make the payment.
If you receive an e -mail with an QR code and you are asked to scan it, you should be careful due to an increase in this type of “quishing” attacks.
Another precaution is to always use the QR scanner that is delivered with your phone instead of an app that was downloaded from an app store because it is safer.
