Warning over fake QR codes being used at car parks

DRIVERS have been warned over a car parking scam after a man was charged £400.

- By KIRSTIE MCCRUM

The Police and Crime Commissioner for Cleveland said that fraudsters are using convincing-looking QR codes in car parks to dupe drivers into logging on to bogus websites to pay parking fees.

Instead of paying a few pounds for parking, unsuspecting drivers have been conned out of hundreds of pounds.

The growing trend of QR fishing or Quishing has seen criminals taking advantage of publicly-displayed codes, often found in retail outlets, car parks and tourist hotspots, to post their own fake codes and redirect the public to malicious websites. One victim thought he was paying £1.50 per hour for car parking in Redcar. Using the information board in the car park, he scanned a QR code, gave his personal details and paid online.

Everything seemed fine until a few days later the driver realised £400 had been taken from his bank account. The 41-year-old immediately contacted his bank and Action Fraud to report the incident.