Fraudsters are constantly looking for new victims and are increasingly finding more sophisticated maneuvers to obtain other people’s data. Meanwhile, one of the most innovative modalities is related to a tool used by thousands of people every day to make payments, which is now of interest to bank fraudsters.
These are attacks through QR codes which It consists in applying a fake code to the real one; This can happen, for example, in a restaurant or at a parking meter.
This way, people scan the code thinking they are entering a secure page, when they are actually browsing a malicious site that requires personal information. Below are all the details.
What is the scam?
Although there are different variants of QR scams, The most classic modus operandi has to do with creating codes that redirect users to fake pagesbut they seem legit.
Meanwhile, cybercriminals first impersonate trusted websites and in the process of development include a section where people have to fill in their personal information. It then links the address to the QR code.
Another scene, the authors of the fraud They either share these QR codes via email or directly insert physical versions in stores without employees realizing. So when customers scan an image to make a payment or book an appointment, they’re taken to a page that prompts them to share their bank details.
recommendation
To avoid this scam, we recommend:
- Look closely at any QR code to see if it shows signs of tampering.
- Carefully examine the sites to which the code redirects: if they have spelling mistakes, if the address is not official, if they have poor quality graphics.