Scammers in a couple of huge Texas cities have been placing faux QR codes on parking meters to trick folks into paying the fraudsters. Parking enforcement officers just lately discovered stickers with fraudulent QR codes on pay stations in Austin, Houston, and San Antonio.
San Antonio police warned the public of the rip-off on December 20, saying that “folks trying to pay for parking utilizing these QR codes might have been directed to a fraudulent web site and submitted fee to a fraudulent vendor.” Comparable scams had been then present in Austin and Houston.
The Austin Transportation Division began inspecting their very own meters after being “notified of a QR code rip-off by the Metropolis of San Antonio in late December—when greater than 100 pay stations had been stickered with fraudulent codes,” Fox 7 Austin reported last week. Austin officers checked the town’s 900 or so parking pay stations and located fraudulent QR codes on 29 of them, according to a KXAN article.
The faux QR codes reportedly directed folks to a “Fast Pay Parking” web site on the area passportlab.xyz, which is now offline. It isn’t clear how many individuals—if any—had been tricked into paying the fraudsters.
Metropolis doesn’t use QR codes—they’re too straightforward to faux
“We do not use QR codes in any respect for this very motive, as a result of they’re straightforward to faux or place on the units,” Austin parking division supervisor Jason Redfern advised KXAN. “And we heard from business leaders that this is able to be a chance.” Austin accepts funds straight on the meter with coins or credit or with the Park ATX cell fee app.
Austin metropolis officers mentioned in a press release that they’re “persevering with to examine the Metropolis’s greater than 900 pay stations to make sure there are not any further QR codes in use.” Austin urged folks to name 911 in the event that they see somebody with no metropolis worker badge tampering with a pay station. “Any one that believes they had been a sufferer of a bank card breach as a consequence of current parking meter funds ought to file a police report and notify their card issuer instantly,” the town additionally mentioned.
Houston officers discovered 5 meters with faux QR codes and eliminated the stickers, according to KPRC 2. Like Austin, Houston doesn’t use QR codes on parking meters however does provide a fee app.
Whereas the rip-off appears to have been centered in Texas, it might be repeated anyplace. In case you see a QR code on a parking meter, ignore it and ensure you pay the town straight.
