Beware of fake QR codes on parking meters: What you need to know, how to protect yourself

PITTSBURGH — Gone are the days of fishing around in your pocket for change to feed the meter. Most meters offer the convenience of paying by app, or even a QR code on the side of the meter. But experts say consumers need to be wary. Law enforcement agencies nationwide are reporting an increase in parking scams involving those QR codes.

Some have been reported in California and Michigan.

The Redondo Beach Police Department in California posted pictures of the fake codes to raise awareness. Police say scammers are placing a sticker with a QR code over the real payment site. Instead of taking drivers to a legitimate website, the QR code in the middle of the picture sends them to a fake payment website.

When scanned, the website comes up as a misspelling: poy-by-phone.online.

James Lee with the Identity Theft Resource Center says If you end up putting in your card number on this website scammers will take money out of the account to pay for parking.

“But then they’re also going to have your identity information that they can then misuse in another way,” said Lee.

The Better Business Bureau warns that weeks later, you may notice a much larger charge on your credit card that has nothing to do with parking. Others have reported the fake QR code at the parking meter ended up signing them up for a streaming service.

“A legitimate organization is not going to just replace that sticker; they’re going to print a whole new round of information around parking. And they don’t update them that often,” Lee said.

If you have any suspicions about a QR code, Lee suggests checking with the parking meter attendant to ask about the legitimacy of a QR code on a parking meter and examine the parking meter—he says you should be able to tell if there’s a sticker put on top of another one.

The Identity Theft Resource Center has not received any reports of QR parking code scams in Pittsburgh.

Earlier this year, there was a rise in the potential risks of malicious QR codes nationwide. The experts say to avoid QR code scams:

• Scan QR codes from trusted sources.
• Be vigilant of unusual QR code behavior.
• Verify QR code URLs and message sources.
• Pay with credit or with debit cards at parking meters when possible.

For more information: https://www.idtheftcenter.org/

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