Scammers are exploiting the rise of cashless car parks by duping drivers who try to pay using their mobile phones.
Motorists are increasingly having to use phones to pay for parking as machines that accept cash disappear. Drivers often now have to call a number on a machine or scan a barcode that takes them to a payment website.
But criminals have pounced on the technology to steal personal details and money from victims. Anthony Cashel, of PayByPhone, a global mobile parking app, warned fraudsters had tried to impersonate its brand and website to target drivers.
Mr Cashel said: “One such scam that is becoming more prevalent is the replacement of QR codes on parking machines.”
QR codes, or Quick Response codes, are a type of square barcode that contains information such as a web address or contact information to be scanned by a smartphone.
They became commonplace in shops, restaurants and bars during the pandemic as part of the NHS contact tracing rollout.
Cases of scammers placing their own barcodes on parking machines to trick drivers into entering their card details into a fake payment website have been reported across the country.
Last week the Isle of Wight council warned of the scam after a motorist had money stolen from her bank account after trying to pay for parking using a fake QR code stuck to the machine. The council said it was now checking other payment machines for the bogus stickers.
Mr Cashel said PayByPhone was considering adding warnings about scammers targeting drivers on its parking machines.
He added: “We take any scamming activity seriously and the safety of our customers is paramount to us.”
The rise of QR code scams has not been confined to car parks. Nationwide Building Society warned victims had been targeted in pubs, restaurants and even when collecting cinema tickets.
A Nationwide spokesman said the best deterrent was for the public to be “extra vigilant” when making a payment using a QR code.
Katherine Hart, of Trading Standards, said the scam was “very much on the increase”.
She said: “It is another way to data harvest or phish for personal details and steal our money.
“This type of scam often targets the younger generation who are more likely to use their smartphones for payments.”
She said anyone scanning a barcode to pay for a service using their mobile phone should check it had not been stuck on top of another code or placed in an unusual location.
She added: “Only scan the code if you are sure and if in doubt use the telephone number that should be displayed in a prominent place. Ask yourself whether the company actually needs your personal details.”
It comes as a House of Lords committee urged the Government to take action against telephone firms that allowed their customers to be deluged with scam texts and calls.
The Fraud Act 2006 and Digital Fraud committee yesterday said the UK had become a “lucrative market” for international criminals with no fear of justice. It also criticised the country’s “chronically underfunded” law enforcement that had failed to investigate and prosecute scammers.
There was an explosion of fraud and scam text messages during the pandemic, with scammers posing as the NHS, the taxman and delivery firms to steal millions from households amid the uncertainty of lockdown.
Criminals have since changed tack as money worries prey on people’s minds and now use bogus offers of energy rebates to try to trick their victims.
