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New scams related to phishing emerge every day that involve our mobile devices or email accounts. But in recent times we are seeing a large proliferation of scams related to QR codes that have already become very common in different services.
And anyone who goes out for a walk will currently find a QR code. In restaurants to consult the menu, obtain instructions in a public service or quickly access an application that we find in an advertisement. Here we will almost always find a QR code, and in the bicycle rental service in some cities like Madrid are also found. Although in this case they are being affected by a scam that puts all their users in danger.
BiciMAD is the victim of a scam related to QR codes
The latest case is being reported in the municipal bicycle company in Madrid (BiciMAD) as reported ElDiario.es. This has been the objective to scam all users of this service through the technique Qrshingimpersonating identity through different QR codes to which users access trusting that it is an official website.
And it is precisely the modus operandi of these scammers consists of sticking a QR code on the bicycle or the parking spot. Being in that location, anyone who wants to use the service will scan the code to access the municipal company’s website and make the payment to take the bicycle. This code did not work if it was scanned with the BiciMAD app, but if it was done with the device’s camera it did open a window in the browser.
And indeed when you scan the QR code users found a website identical to BiciMAD with a system to proceed with the payment of rent. But as expected, this platform was not developed by the municipal company and was only looking for money from these trusting people who made payments with their cards.
We have been able to learn that the Madrid City Council has already has filed a complaint with the National Police for this case after receiving an alert from a user on X. She effectively discovered that someone had pasted fraudulent QR codes on top of the original ones so that they would be the first to be scanned.
QRs are very useful, but as long as they are scanned wisely
From Kaspersky they state that “QR codes are very useful in our daily lives, but we must be especially careful if we scan them in public spaces, since they may have been manipulated or placed by cybercriminals who are trying to get hold of users’ data and money.“. And as we always say, sometimes you have to distrust almost everything.
It is important be responsible with the QR codes we scan and verify through their URL or by accessing the official pages directly how they should be used. In addition, it is important to always configure two-factor verification systems to prevent it from being so easy to steal a password or money from our account.
But as advice we must stay with this fact is never make payments after accessing via a QR code. Because as we can see here, it is very easy for anyone to walk around a city changing the QR codes of those services that are most used to collect a large amount of money from their victims.
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