The scammers are deploying a technique that is causing many victims.
It’s a nearly invisible scam that can be expensive. And one that we don’t suspect at all. However, the authorities have been warning for several weeks about the increase in similar scams. The criminals generally take advantage of tourists’ inattention to see their scheme illegally earn them money. One victim reported losing 4,000 euros in a few minutes, others a few dozen or hundreds of euros.
It has now become common practice: to read a menu in a restaurant, a notice from the Post Office, pay for parking or a fine, you are asked to scan a code: the famous QR Code, short for “quick response code”. With your smartphone, you just have to open your camera and place the camera above the code. A link then appears on which you have to click to access a website allowing you to find out information or, generally, to pay a debt. A method that criminals have decided to divert.
Their action plan is very simple: put a fake QR Code over the real QR Code. For the customer, it is impossible to see the difference. When the customer scans it, they will arrive at a site that looks similar to the one they are looking for, usually a site that allows you to pay. Not seeing anything, the person will then enter their bank card details and think they are paying for their parking or electric charging. However, this is not the case. The money is paid into a fraudulent account and the banking data falls into malicious hands.
This scam has already been occurring in many cities in France for several months. This is particularly the case in Nice, where fake QR Codes are affixed to parking meters. In Loiret, electric charging stations have been the target of fraudulent QR Codes. In Toulouse, unofficial fines are being distributed on car windshields. Neighboring countries are not spared either: Spain is also facing this type of scam, as are Italy and Belgium, according to several national media outlets.
RTL Belgium tells the story of Camille who, after scanning a QR Code and entering her bank card number, thought she was paying to recharge her electric car. This was not the case. The site was fake and her account was emptied of 4000 euros.
To protect yourself from any scam, you must check that the address of the site corresponds to the organization that you must pay, that it begins with “https” and not simply “http”, that there are no spelling mistakes or that the site does not require payment within a certain time frame. To be sure not to be scammed, it is even better to double the verification by calling the platform to confirm the veracity of the QR Code when it results in a payment.