Public Warning.
If you EVER, and I do mean EVER see a QR code for anything... not just some things, ANYTHING.
Treat it as a scam, do not scan it, they can easily be covered up with malicious redirects to fake sites to steal your financial details. Direct you to malware sites to try and infect your device.
Treat them all the same... as toxic, potential harmful to your identity and security.
Never trust them... EVER!!!
If you 100% must use one, do what you should be doing at any (ATM) cash machine, check for devices that have been installed by crooks. See if you can peel the code off, not just at the area around the code, but the whole sign... look for anything unusual and if you have any doubts... even if it's 1% doubt... DON'T USE IT
This isn't scaremongering, scammers and thieves are out there every day, placing fake QR codes on signs all over the place. No where is safe from them. The way to win is not to play. Don;t buy into the enshitification of everything, don;t be told that you can ONLY do it one specific way (legally they have to offer more than one way to pay for a service).
Please boost and spread the word.
Hypolite Petovan
•@Anomnomnomaly Contrary to what was claimed, this post is 98% scaremongering, discarding an entire technology because of *check notes* parking payment fraud, as depicted on the picture.
It is entirely possible to use QR codes safely with a minimum of care, especially when they aren't related to payment. No need for grand-standing statements or, goodness forbid, all caps.
will_shake
•Hypolite Petovan
•@will_shake @Anomnomnomaly I'm sorry about that, it is unfortunate but it's worth noting the small scale of this specific fraud. I looked up articles talking about it and in the US, people defrauded of their payment credentials this way ended up wrongly charged for streaming services subscriptions ($30-$50 a month).
So I don't think it warrants stopping using QR codes for absolutely everything, even it's always a good idea to be careful with them, especially around payments where this kind of fraud is more likely to happen.