
How To Spot Fake, Scammer QR Codes On Colorado Parking Meters
Technology is a beautiful, amazing thing... sometimes.
With every modern convenience, it seems, comes another scammer who figures out how to separate people from their hard earned cash or how to steal their information and/or identity.
Remember when it started first being reported that thieves were installing skimmers in gas pumps and ATM machines to simply steal your credit card number? Those days were simple compared to how they're doing it now.
QR codes took a while to take off, but if you're not familiar, it's that square with squiggly lines all over, creating a unique code your phone will recognize to open a link on the internet somewhere. They're often used to pay for simple things with apps like Venmo or Paypal.
Nowadays, they're commonly used to paying for parking, via a number of different parking apps used across the country. In some cases, they're now being used to steal your card information.
Thieves are posting fake "pay for your parking" stickers on parking meters across the state, and if you scan it to pay for what you assume is legit parking, they'll take you to a fake website where you willingly give them your personal information and card number. So they're not simply stealing your numbers from a cash machine... they're tricking you into giving it directly to them, unbeknownst to you at the time.
The problem isn't just that they're adding an additional sticker to the meter, but in fact sometimes covering the legit QR code on the meter with a fake one. So if you do scan it, always be sure to check the URL it takes you to before entering your card information. Sometimes a letter will be switched, a number will be added, etc. Always make sure you're paying on a legit website or with old fashioned coins and cash.
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