January 14, 2022 – Municipal leaders across the country are warning drivers not to use QR codes stuck on to parking pay stations. Such QR codes are easily faked, and it seems scammers used them to soak up unsuspecting people’s parking fees, along with their credit card information, in some of the largest cities in the U.S.
The easiest way to protect yourself from such a scam is to never enter credit card information into an untrustworthy website, and that includes ones that you’ve reached via QR code. QR codes are ridiculously easy to fake, which is why you won’t find any city using them to accept payments.
Most cities have specific secure parking payment apps as well as kiosks that accept payment. It’s such an easy scam that police are already alerting the public to the possibility that it might pop up in their city.