The Federal Trade Commission, Better Business Bureau and various cities have issued warnings about this scam. Here’s how to avoid being duped.
Many cities are trying to make it easier for people to pay for parking by placing Quick Response (QR) codes that people scan with their cell phone camera on meters.
The cities or parking companies they contract with use these QR codes to point people to websites or apps where they can digitally pay to park.
But some people on social media have warned that scammers are placing fake QR codes on parking meters to steal people’s personal information and money.
For example, one person said in a Reddit post that they were hit with an unauthorized charge of $89 after scanning a fraudulent QR code on a parking meter in an unspecified city.
Another person on TikTok saidhis friend scanned a QR code that he believed was for the ParkMobile …