Fraudsters place fake QR codes on parking meters

Daniel ZimmermannJanuary 14, 2022

0 62 1 minute read

US authorities have warned that fake QR codes have been found on parking meters in several major Texas cities at once.

The San Antonio police were the first to warn about such a scam back in December 20, when they discovered that about 100 city devices were equipped with fake QR codes.

SCAM ALERT: Fraudulent QR code stickers were discovered on City of San Antonio public parking meters. People attempting to pay for parking using those QR codes may have been directed to a fraudulent website and submitted payment to a fraudulent vendor. Any person that believes they were a victim of a credit card breach as a result of recent parking meter payments should file a police report and notify their card issuer immediately. SAPD Financial Crimes is investigating the matter.<span class="su-quote-cite"><a href="https://twitter.com/SATXPolice/status/1473025923951775755" target="_blank">San Antonio law enforcement officers tweeted.</a></span>

Similar substitutions were soon discovered in Austin and Houston.

According to Fox 7 Austin, the Austin Department of Transportation has begun checking its parking meters following a December warning from San Antonio. As a result, it turned out that out of 900 parking meters in the city, 29 contain fake QR codes. Moreover, five such devices were found in Houston.

The codes reportedly redirected victims to the passportlab[.]xyz website (currently disabled) for “quick pay for parking.” It is not clear how many people have experienced this scam and managed to pay the scammers.

We do not use QR codes at all for this very reason, because they are easy to fake and put on devices. From industry leaders, we heard that this is possible.<span class="su-quote-cite">Austin authorities say.</span>

Interestingly, in Austin and Houston, drivers can pay for parking in cash, with a bank card, or using a special mobile application. These cities do not use QR codes for such purposes at all.

Law enforcement was unable to establish a link between the violations of the law in Austin and Houston, but they believe that the clue allowed Austin to prevent or at least minimize the harm from the actions of intruders.

Let me remind you that we wrote that Researchers Find Out Most SS7 Hacking Suggestions Are Scams, and also that Scammers stole $2.3 million from the authorities of a small American city.

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