Photo: Getty Images-Kayoko Hayashi
Agent Meister-Geek Squad spoke to Bill about It's Safe to Scan QR Codes (If You're Careful) - If you've seen those squares made of black and white squares, you've likely seen one. Your phone camera can scan them, similar to a barcode, and translate the website URL they often have encoded.
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What is a QR code?
If you've seen those squares made of black and white squares, you've likely seen one. Your phone camera can scan them, similar to a barcode, and translate the website URL they often have encoded.
QR Code Scams in the News
As reported by Bleeping Computer, scammers stole $20,000 from a woman in Singapore after she scanned a QR code purporting to be a survey for her local bubble tea shop. The ad promised a free cup of milk tea for completing the survey, so she scanned, and subsequently downloaded an app when prompted in order to take the survey. As you may have guessed, that app had nothing to do with the bubble tea shop. It had everything to do with installing malware on her phone, and it stole $20,000 directly from the victim’s bank account.
Redditor hamsupchoi posted to r/sanfrancisco last week to warn other city residents about a fake parking ticket scam they caught. Their “parking ticket” looked legit at first glance, but sported a city seal, something a real parking ticket wouldn’t, and the QR code to “pay online” actually gave up access to the victims’ bank accounts.
How QR code scams work
For the most part, there’s very little risk to simply scanning a QR code alone. Where the danger comes is what you do after scanning the code. Scammers might design their QR code to install a malicious program on your device, with the goal of stealing data or running ads in the background. But they also might draft a website that looks like an official site, but actually steals information like your login credentials.
How to safely scan QR codes
First, it’s good practice to distrust any QR code you come across. QR codes are easy to make, so bad actors could place them in spots they hope people will scan them without thinking twice.
Also, if you know where the QR code is trying to take you, like a restaurant menu or a business’ website, try going there yourself without the QR code. In some cases, this won’t work, but it’s easy enough to Google the name of a restaurant and find their menu.
But with the rise of QR code scams in the news, I think there’s room for another tip to protect yourself when scanning. Do not give permission for anything after scanning a QR code, and don’t download apps or files when prompted. 99% of the time, whatever is on the other end of that QR code does not need access to your phone’s camera, microphone, location, or, worst of all, accessibility functions.