Urgent warning issued over QR codes appearing on parking machines

Motorists have been alerted to new scam

The alarm was raised by Conwy Council in North Wales and follows reports that similar scams have been taking place in pubs and restaurants.

The scammers are sticking their own QR codes on top of genuine ones in an attempt to get people to unwittingly hand over personal data including card details.

The new twist on the phishing scam has been dubbed quishing.

Conwy Council put a post on its website warning people about the scam after finding a number of fake QR codes stuck on its parking machines.

The post read: “QR codes are not used by the official PayByPhone app which motorists can use to pay for parking around Conwy county.”

The QR codes take the customer to a fake website pretending to be the PayByPhone site.

They then steal payment information, often leading to fraudulent payments from the bank accounts of unsuspecting motorists.

It also puts the motorist at risk of a parking fine since they did not purchase a ticket the correct way.

The scam has been spotted in three different locations across Conwy so far – The Parade, Llandudno and Colwyn Bay Promenade.

Meanwhile, quishing scams have also been spotted in car parks across Portsmouth and Northamptonshire.

West Northamptonshire Council issued a statement as did Portsmouth City Council who wrote: “We don’t use any QR codes for parking in the city, so we urge everyone to stay alert and only use official sources to prevent giving away their payment details. It’s crucial for people to use the official RingGo app to pay for parking in Portsmouth to avoid falling for scams like fake QR codes.”