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BOSTON (WBZNewsRadio) - As we enjoy our summer by hitting the road, there's a new warning from the Better Business Bureau over an emerging scam involving QR codes at parking lots.
The scam isn't new, in fact the City of Framingham released their own warning to residents last year. Now the BBB is seeing an influx in reports of the scam and said with QR codes being absolutely everywhere, it's more important now than ever to understand how to keep your information safe.
"This time, scammers use them (QR codes) to steal parking fees and collect credit card information." The BBB said. "It's the flip side of this parking ticket scam."
The scam is simple. You park at a city parking meter or use a parking voucher machine with a prominently placed QR code. Using the code, you scan the imagine with your phone and pay using your email and credit card. Majority of the time, there is no receipt or proof of payment, but drivers may see a small charge on their credit card and assume they've paid.
"A few weeks later, however, you noticed another charge on your credit card." The BBB said "However, this fee has nothing to do with parking. It’s a recurring charge from an unrelated company posing as the city’s parking fee service. It turns out the QR code was fake, and your information is now in the hands of a scammer."
The BBB said look for any evidence of tampering and add many scammers will try and place their QR codes in places that make sense, including on top of legitimate QR codes. They said the best thing to do to avoid a scam is paying for parking directly through the meter instead of scanning QR codes.
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