Due to a rise in restaurants using QR menus, particularly since the Covid-19 pandemic, an increase in criminal activity using these codes has duly followed. No matter what technology comes along, fraudsters will find a way to exploit it, with this recent development being used to scam innocent people out of their money and data.
Almost 84% of smartphone users have scanned a QR code at least once, and over 34% scan a code once a week, according to anti phishing platform TitanHQ. This popularity has led to a rise in ‘QR code phishing’, allowing cybercriminals to scam, hack and cause malware infection.
This is achieved by the link contained within the QR code providing the cybercriminal with the opportunity to perform phishing. The legitimate menu QR code is replaced with a malicious one, which will instead take the user to a fake website designed to mimic the real account and have the customer divulge personal data.
