Many firms (including the world’s largest technology corporations) utilise QR codes to direct visitors to their apps. A QR (Quick Response) app can simply recognise the QR (the longer phrase- Quick Response) code. To decipher the code, all that is required is a camera and the app. While it eliminates the time-consuming chore of entering bank account information, these genuine-looking codes may contain a potential threat. And, as is human nature, we tend to overlook minor facts, allowing fraudsters to engage in evil actions online. 

What do QR Code Fraudsters do?

To begin with, QR Code is a two-dimensional barcode or a matrix barcode, which is a machine-readable optical tag and carries information (mostly a bank account number) of the receiver. QR Code full form is ‘Quick Response’ code.     

The cybercriminals mostly target online property buyers/rent-seekers who have registered on dubious real estate platforms and second-hand product listing platforms such as OLX, buyers coming from the social media platforms WhatsApp and Facebook, and bulk purchasing from portals. The scamsters usually introduce themselves as defence/army personnel or police officers to build initial trust.

Used for making a payment (Sending Money), the QR Codes (qr code generator online) are being used for duping citizens these days. Cyber scamsters urge people to scan the QR codes (qr code scanner), following which money gets debited from the victim’s bank account in a matter of seconds.

The QR Code scam started on used product selling platforms like OLX (qr code scam olx) and have now spread to online property listing websites as well. Usually, the cyber fraudster calls a landlord by impersonating a needy tenant and assures to book the property by depositing the requisite security amount. For this, he shares a QR Code on the property owner’s mobile phone (whatsapp qr code). As soon as the landlord scans that QR code, he loses money instead of getting it.

In the wake of recurring instances of such cases, the thumb rule to keep yourself protected is – ‘You must never scan a QR Code for receiving money.’

How to be alert from QR Code Scams

What to Do if You Become a Victim of a QR Code Scam

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