The City of Austin is warning drivers to avoid using QR stickers on parking pay stations because they are used by scammers to steal money from people who think they are paying for parking.
From the Austin, Texas government website:
Over the weekend, Austin Transportation parking enforcement officers discovered QR codes on stickers affixed to more than two dozen pay stations across the City of Austin. People attempting to pay for parking using those QR codes may have been directed to a fraudulent website and submitted payment to a fraudulent vendor. The QR codes linked to a site that is not part of the City of Austin paid parking system and may have been created with malicious intent.
A Quick Response (QR) code is a two-dimensional bar code similar to the one shown in the image above.
Austin Transportation's parking enforcement team is continuing to inspect the City's more than 900 pay stations to ensure there are no additional QR codes in use. Anyone who sees someone tampering with a pay station and is not a badged City of Austin employee should call 9-1-1.
Austin Police Department Financial Crimes detectives are investigating the placement of the stickers. Any person who believes they were a victim of a credit card breach due to recent parking meter payments should file a police report and notify their card issuer immediately.
