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FBI says crooks are using fake QR codes to steal money

FBI says crooks are using fake QR codes to steal money
this is what the scammers are doing. They're taking Q. R. Codes like this and they're sticking them on parking meters now there's like a little more professional than this. But what they're doing is tricking people into scanning these codes which take them to fraudulent websites. Q. R. Codes are everywhere these days. The brilliance of this particular scam is the simplicity of it. And now some scammers are exploiting the technology. Police in a number of texas cities have found Q. R. Codes stuck to parking meters are so prevalent in terms of like how to pay for things to get information. I would think, oh it's something brand new that they've done, but we don't use QR codes at all. But most towns across the country including Newton don't use QR codes on meters. So the scammers are tricking unsuspecting victims into visiting fraudulent websites to steal credit card information when you pull up to a parking meter and it's gonna sticker on it with a QR code, you would think it was put there by the municipality. Credit card money coins, the app. That's the safe way to go. Many towns use parking apps or allow credit card payments at the meter or at pay stations. Police in massachusetts are now warning people hear about the scam and if you ever have any doubt the safest bet may be to find some loose change. Sometimes it's better to not go digital, go back to analog and just stick a quarter in the meter. Now, police around here haven't gotten any reports of this scam, but they say if you do see a code like this, they would like to hear from you. We're live in Newton tonight, jOHn Atwater WCVB News Center five.
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FBI says crooks are using fake QR codes to steal money
Cybercriminals are trying to steal financial information from Americans through the QR codes that restaurants and businesses have increasingly turned to during the coronavirus pandemic, the FBI warned this week.The scammers are using fraudulent QR codes — bar codes that you scan on your phone to launch a website — to direct people to malicious sites in order to steal their data or hijack payments, the FBI said in a public advisory.The announcement follows the discovery earlier this month of fraudulent QR code stickers on more than two dozen parking stations in Austin, Texas."People attempting to pay for parking using those QR codes may have been directed to a fraudulent website and submitted payment to a fraudulent vendor," the Austin Police Department said when it announced an investigation.QR codes themselves are not malicious, but the ease with which criminals can create their own, fake codes to dupe consumers is a concern. The FBI wants people to check the websites that QR codes direct them to carefully. The bureau also advises people to use their phones' app stores, rather than QR codes, to download any mobile apps.It's the latest effort by fraudsters to exploit habits and lifestyle changes during the COVID-19 pandemic. In the pandemic's early days, as the virus was pummeling Italy and Spain in March 2020, hackers tried to defraud residents of those countries using fake mobile apps claiming to offer updates on the virus.

Cybercriminals are trying to steal financial information from Americans through the QR codes that restaurants and businesses have increasingly turned to during the coronavirus pandemic, the FBI warned this week.

The scammers are using fraudulent QR codes — bar codes that you scan on your phone to launch a website — to direct people to malicious sites in order to steal their data or hijack payments, the FBI said in a public advisory.

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The announcement follows the discovery earlier this month of fraudulent QR code stickers on more than two dozen parking stations in Austin, Texas.

"People attempting to pay for parking using those QR codes may have been directed to a fraudulent website and submitted payment to a fraudulent vendor," the Austin Police Department said when it announced an investigation.

QR codes themselves are not malicious, but the ease with which criminals can create their own, fake codes to dupe consumers is a concern. The FBI wants people to check the websites that QR codes direct them to carefully. The bureau also advises people to use their phones' app stores, rather than QR codes, to download any mobile apps.

It's the latest effort by fraudsters to exploit habits and lifestyle changes during the COVID-19 pandemic. In the pandemic's early days, as the virus was pummeling Italy and Spain in March 2020, hackers tried to defraud residents of those countries using fake mobile apps claiming to offer updates on the virus.