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Suddenly the account is empty – just because of a small scan. They are practical, can be seen everywhere, and are extremely dangerous: QR codes. Throughout Austria, the police are warning of a new, perfidious scam. Criminals are shamelessly exploiting the increasing popularity of the square codes to obtain the data and money of unsuspecting citizens.
Drivers who buy parking tickets by cell phone are being targeted, and customers of banks and parcel services are also being targeted increasingly. The perpetrators are acting with frightening sophistication.
The scam is simple, which is precisely why it is so dangerous: criminals print out deceptively real-looking QR codes and stick them directly over the original codes on parking machines, post office collection slips, or supposed bank letters.
Scanning the code does not take you to the provider’s actual website but to a professionally reproduced fake site. You are asked to enter sensitive data, such as your license plate number, parking time, credit card details, or online banking access data.
The Chamber of Labor is already discussing a nationwide problem. In February, the city of Salzburg confirmed that around 40 parking machines had fake codes stuck to them. The perpetrators also struck in Linz and Styria.
“Criminals are exploiting the increasing popularity of QR codes to gain access to sensitive data,” warns AK consumer protection officer Franz Valandro from Vorarlberg. A driver from his state was able to spot the fraudulent website just in time – but others were not so lucky.
Particularly brazen: In Vienna, fake parking tickets appeared on windshields as early as 2023. The tickets looked like official payment requests from the police – including the logo of the Vienna Provincial Police Directorate. However, the included QR code led to a fake payment page.
The fraudsters also send letters and emails in the name of banks, authorities, or the Austrian Health Insurance Fund (ÖGK), which also contain QR codes. Recipients are tempted to scan these directly from the paper or screen – and thus fall into the trap.
- source: kleinezeitung.at/picture: Image by Mohamed Hassan from Pixabay
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