Hackers have found a new way to steal personal data
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Why do you always have to ask for a paper menu? Police around the world are warning that hackers are placing fake QR codes in restaurants and thus stealing your details when you click on a link.
QR codes have become the new standard for accessing restaurant menus around the world in the wake of Covid, but scammers have seized the opportunity here too.
Police warn that thieves are creating fake QR codes and placing them in eateries, retail stores and even on parking meters.
Instead of going to an online menu or checkout, the links instantly download malware onto your mobile device.
Police are urging visitors to look out for typos or misplaced letters in URLs that can be accessed via QR codes and ask restaurants for physical menus. QR codes, which stands for “Quick Response”, are machine-readable codes made up of black and white squares that store URLs, payment methods, and other online services accessed using a smartphone’s camera. They have been around since 1994 but have made a big comeback during the Covid pandemic to meet the needs of a contactless society.
Police around the world first sounded the alarm about QR scams in January 2022, but there are increasing reports of people being scammed with fake barcodes.
QR code fraud is one of the top five threats to global cybersecurity. Hackers use fake codes to phish emails and social media posts. Scammers can also contact you through an online marketplace claiming they are trying to purchase the items you sell and asking you to scan a QR code. The police are also advising to avoid making payments from websites accessed using QR codes.
Another area where fake QR codes can be seen is in the cryptocurrency industry. Crypto transactions are often made using QR codes associated with crypto accounts… making these transactions easier. If you scan a scammer’s code, you could end up giving them access to your device as well as access to your contacts, downloading malware, or ending up in a fake payment portal.
Christina DENISYUK.
Source: dailymail.co.uk
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