Federal Trade Commission Warns Of QR Code Scams

The Federal Trade Commission is warning everybody of a trending scam that uses your phone's camera.

The FTC says QR codes are the latest way scammers are exploiting convenience.

QR codes are integrated into many people's lives, from ordering food to accessing events, but scanning the codes could give someone else access to your personal information.

The Federal Trade Commission says a new wave of scams is on the rise, exploiting the trust placed in harmless-seeming pixelated squares.

It says scammers are using malicious QR codes in emails and text messages or replacing legitimate codes on objects with their own.

University of Tulsa Professor of Cyber Studies Stephen Flowerday says most people have likely seen one of these attempts in the last 24 hours.

“They're doing it daily. We are receiving an increased number of scams. Fortunately, the software is also getting better,” Flowerday said.

It often involves a sense of urgency using tactics like falsely claiming a failed package delivery or warning about suspicious activities on an account.

Flowerday says the goal is to manipulate users into scanning the QR code without giving it a second thought.

“They work on all these emotions to keep you under pressure so that you’ll respond quickly. Take your time. Take your time. If it's a genuine link, it's going to be there tomorrow,” Flowerday said.

The FTC outlines the dangers associated with the scams that direct victims to spoofed websites that appear genuine but are designed to harvest personal information.

“QR codes makes it a little more tricky(sic) in the sense that a QR code you can't visually look at it and see for yourself that it's deceptive,” Flowerday said.

Before entering anything, the FTC recommends the following: