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Uses fake QR codes to steal money

Ever since the outbreak of the corona pandemic, restaurants and shops around the world have been asking guests to register their visit digitally. In this way, companies have been able to easily notify guests of cases of infection.

To make the process as simple as possible, several companies have chosen to use QR codes. The QR code, which is a form of barcode, is scanned using a mobile camera. The guest is automatically redirected to a website for registration.

But lately, barcodes have created problems for more Americans.

Several fraud attempts

In a press release As the FBI sent out on Tuesday, people were asked to take more precautions when paying or registering digitally.

According to the media house CNN, several Americans may have been scammed in January after they scanned fake barcodes.

In January, fake barcode stickers were found in more than 20 parking lots in Austin, Texas. The barcodes must have been constructed by so-called “cybercriminals”.

“People who have tried to pay for parking using these QR codes may have been referred to dark websites,” the Austin Police Department said in a press release.

Guests who thought they were about to pay their parking fee digitally may thus have been tricked into submitting money to fake suppliers.

Known phenomenon

The FBI is now asking everyone to check the sites that the QR codes lead them to carefully.

The QR scam is one of several cases where criminals have tried to exploit people’s habits and lifestyle changes during the pandemic. As early as March 2020, Italy and Spain encountered a similar problem. Several residents are then said to have been tricked into downloading fake mobile apps that claimed to offer updates about the virus.

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