There has been a massive increase in the use of QR code restaurant menus over the past two years, and now it seems criminals are using this development to scam innocent people out of their money and data.
According to TitanHQ, an Anti Phishing Platform based in Galway and with offices in Connecticut, almost 84% of smartphone users have scanned a QR code at least once, and over 34% scan a QR code once a week. Cybercriminals love popular technologies and focus on them to scam, hack, and cause malware infection.
This popularity has led to a rise in “QR code phishing” and in the US the FBI even issuing a warning about QR codes, highlighting their use for data phishing. Here is how hackers use QR codes to hack your network and how you can prevent it:
Types of QR Code Phishing Scams
QR codes work by embedding instructions into a black and white dot-based image. They work a little like the barcodes you see on food in a store. A smartphone camera, app, or QR code scanning device scans the QR code. The scan then translates the data into human-readable information.
QR codes usually contain web links or links to media such as videos or links to download an app. This use of links in a QR code provides a cybercriminal with the opportunity to perform phishing.
During the pandemic, many restaurants switched to using QR code menus and have kept them. With a smartphone you can easily access the menu removing the need for paper menus. The customer simply scans the…
