“No one paid attention to this scam, it cost me 4000 euros”

2024-07-29 04:54:11

Scammers use a strategy that causes many victims.

It’s an almost invisible scam that can be expensive. And of which we have no doubt. However, authorities have been warning for weeks about the spread of similar scams. Common criminals take advantage of the attention of tourists to see their intentions against them and take their money. One victim said he lost 4,000 euros in a few minutes, others a few tens or hundreds of euros.

It has now become routine: to read the menu in a restaurant, notice from La Poste, pay for it or even a fine, you are asked to scan a code: the famous QR code, short for “quick response code”, In other words “quick response code”. With your smartphone, all you have to do is open your camera and place the camera over the code. A link will appear on which you must click to access the website that allows you to read information or, in general, to pay a debt. The way criminals have decided to steal.

Their plan of action is very simple: put a fake QR code on top of the real QR code. For the consumer, it is impossible to see the difference. When you check it, you will arrive at a site that looks similar to the one you are on, generally a site that allows you to pay. Seeing nothing but electricity, the person will enter their bank card details and think about paying for their car or electricity bill. However, it is not. The money was paid into a fraudulent account and the bank details fell into malicious hands.

This scam has already been happening in many cities in France for several months. This is especially the case in Nice where fake QR codes are attached to parking meters. In Loiret, electric charging stations are the target of fraudulent QR Codes. In Toulouse, unauthorized fines are distributed on car windshields. Neighboring countries are not contributing either: Spain is also facing this kind of scam, as are Italy and Belgium, multinational media report.

RTL Belgium essentially tells the story of Camille who, after scanning a QR code and entering her bank card number, thinks about paying to charge her electric car. It didn’t happen. The site is fake and your account has been emptied of 4,000 euros.

To protect yourself from any scam, you must carefully check that the address of the site corresponds to the organization that must pay, that it begins with “https” and not just “http”, that there are no spelling mistakes or that the site does not require payment within a specific time. To make sure not to be deceived, it is better to check twice by calling the platform to confirm the authenticity of the QR code when it is the result of a payment.