I was SCAMMED out of £100s by hidden sticker parking fee con – know the signs so you don’t fall for it too
A WOMAN has revealed how she was scammed out of £100s at a car park after scanning a fake QR code.
In a video posted to social media, the duped car owner can be seen picking at a QR code sticker that has been placed over the top of the real QR code at a pay-and-display parking bay.
Along with the clip, which has racked up around 3 million views on X, the post is captioned: “A girl was scammed out of $1,000 when she scanned a QR code for parking, but it turned out to be a fake sticker.”
In the UK, that works out at around £768.
The scam, which is known as “quishing”, has become commonplace, and sees grifters placing QR code stickers on parking machines to fleece victims’ bank accounts.
Anyone who scans these square bar codes to pay for a parking ticket using their phone or to visit a website address is instead directed to a site or app run by scammers.
The driver will then unknowingly hand over details of their bank account, instead of making a parking payment to a legitimate company.
Over the next few hours or days, the fraudsters will then withdraw sums of money, usually below £50, hoping the victim does not notice, as reported by The Times.
As if being scammed isn’t bad enough, drivers can also end up receiving a hefty fine from the council, as technically they haven’t paid for parking.
In recent times, councils up and down the country have been scrapping archaic pay and display meters in favour of ‘pay by app’ systems.
This move has been accelerated by mobile phone providers switching off 3G data networks, on which some parking machines operate.
But experts are concerned this could be leaving drivers vulnerable to scammers.
Ian Taylor, director of the Alliance of British Drivers consumer body, said: “Parking is becoming not just overpriced and difficult to operate — and in some places in short supply — but now at risk from crime too.
“It also highlights once again the need to stop being so reliant on apps.
“At the very least, credit or debit card payment should be available as well.”
Peter O’Driscoll, managing director of the parking payment app RingGo, said: “We have noticed that consumers are now bombarded by fraud threats both online and in person.
“Recent scams involving false QR codes on pay-and-display machines are one of the latest attempts by criminals to dupe unsuspecting drivers.”
Action Fraud says drivers should be wary if a QR code takes them to a site that asks for personal information, login details or payment.
This comes as Martin Lewis‘ MSE has warned drivers of three major car brands that they could be missing out on claiming £1,000s.
A huge compensation deadline is approaching in the next few weeks which experts suggest could result in average payouts of over £10,000.
Elsewhere, a pensioner has been slapped with three parking fines despite having his blue badge on display.
An 83-year-old was forced to fork out £200 after he left his motor in a spot near to Bolton Market.