Illinois, This Is Why Using QR Codes Could Cost You Thousands

Experts are warning of a new reason to be wary of QR codes.

You see QR codes everywhere these days. Thanks to the pandemic, the trend of restaurants putting their menus on QR codes became more of a thing. You may see them in stores to be led to their website or to find special deals. Stats show over 89 million Americans are scanning QR codes on their phones.

It's Cyber Monday and the biggest shopping season of the year is underway. A lot of us have our noses in our phones right now but there's something you need to be very aware of if you're planning on using a QR code.

Warning From Experts

NBC Chicago reports there's a new scam going around called 'quishing'. It's like phishing but with QR codes. In fact, research from Checkpoint shows QR code phishing scams have gone up more than 587% from August to September of this year alone. That's a lot of sketchy QR stuff.

The way it works is this: scammers create fake QR codes, which take you to a spoofed website that looks legit but isn't. It could start with an email from something important, like your doctor's office, bank, or employer, telling you to scan a QR code to confirm an appointment or view an invoice. After you scan it, you'll be sent to a website to log into your bank, work, or email account. And that's how the sketchy folks get your personal info.

How To Avoid It

The best thing you can do is pay attention to what little link pops up at the bottom of the screen when you scan a QR code. Security Research Analyst with Checkpoint, Jeremy Fuchs, told NBC Chicago:

When you do scan a QR code on your phone, a little link preview will come up show, it'll show you the URL that it's going to go to. If you're at a doctor's office [check] ‘Is it going to my doctor's portal?’ It is impossible to get rid of QR codes at this point, they're sort of baked into our everyday. So just kind of thinking about common sense, like that helps.

It's not very likely that you'll find these sketchy QR codes at a restaurant but you could very well get them in your email. Be smart and use common sense whenever you're scanning QR codes.