QR codes are everywhere again – parking meters, restaurant tables, delivery notes. A code is just a link you cannot read, which is exactly what makes it useful to scammers. The check that protects you takes five seconds.
Read the link before you open it
Every phone camera shows the address before opening it. Look at the domain, not the logo on the page it leads to. A parking payment that points to a strange domain is a fake, however official the sticker looks.
Watch for the sticker trick
A classic move is a printed QR sticker pasted over the real code on a meter, menu or poster. If the code is a sticker on top of another surface, treat it as untrusted until you can verify it.
Never sign in through a scanned code
A QR code that leads to a login page – email, bank, social account – is a red flag. Open the app or type the address you know instead. Scanned codes are for reading menus and opening public pages, not for proving who you are.
Codes can carry more than links
A QR code can also add a contact, join a Wi-Fi network, or trigger a payment app. Read what your phone says the code will do before you confirm; joining an unknown network is handing your traffic to whoever printed the square.
When in doubt, ask for the address
Any legitimate service using a QR code can also give you a printed URL or a reference number. Asking for it is normal. The five seconds of awkwardness are cheaper than the account you would otherwise hand over.
