I couple of years ago I wrote about how QR codes were making their final stand to be adopted during Covid. Sure enough, here we are years later and QR codes are part of daily life. So much so that the latest scam consumers in Ireland need to be aware of involves them. A woman in Greystones has reportedly been scammed out of €1,000 after scanning a QR code on a Payzone parking machine.
Payzone Parking Scam
In what is an annoyingly clever piece of scamming, bad artists replace the QR code on Payzone parking machines with their own which directs people to a replica of the Payzone website. This came to light when posted on X yesterday.
Motorists, who are likely in a hurry to an appointment and need to quickly pay for parking, scan the code and “pay online”, but really are providing all the details a scammer needs to take money from them.
To add insult to injury, the driver heads to their appointment with the potential of getting a parking fine too as they’ve not paid for parking.
These QR codes have been reported in multiple areas with drivers being reminded to remain vigilant when paying for their parking.
QR Code Safety
QR codes are a great piece of technology that helps with day to day interactions with websites and apps. But it’s essential that you remain vigilant when it comes to scanning them. Treat them with the same healthy skepticism you would a link in a text.
Taking a second to examine the QR code in this scenario would lead to you seeing it’s off colour with the surrounding print on the machine.
For me, I’d try and download the app from your phone’s app store manually instead of scanning a code. You can never be too careful.
Finally, I strongly recommend using Revolut with a disposable card for transactions like this so you can freeze them immediately after use and limit and potential losses.
