Surely in your day to day you see many QR codes. They are present in advertisements, when you go to a restaurant or bar and want to see the menu, when visiting a tourist monument, at bus stops, in parking lots… That, as you will see, is taken advantage of by the cybercriminals to scam and achieve their goal.
QR codes, a method to steal
What has happened to this woman from Singapore is something that, unfortunately, has been happening a lot lately. Perhaps this case stands out much more due to the economic amount stolen, around €20,000, but we see many similarities in those who steal passwords, access to bank details, etc.
But what exactly has happened? something as simple as scan a QR code in a tea shop to supposedly receive a free cup of tea. You simply had to scan the code, fill out a survey with your data and thus receive the voucher to redeem it for that free cup.
The problem is that this does not raise many suspicions. That is, it is very common today to find promotions and certain offers on these sites. Also, seeing a QR code in a store or restaurant is not strange. But really everything started to go wrong when, through that QR, he downloaded a app on phone. That app was a fraud and the objective was to collect bank details and take control of the accounts.
What the attackers did was transfer €20,000 from your bank account. This was possible as they took full control of the device. How was this possible? While installing that program, the victim had to agree to give certain permissions, such as record screen, microphone, etc. When the victim enters the bank from the mobile, she can detect what credentials she is entering.
How to avoid problems of this type
So what should we do to prevent attacks of this type? We are not going to say that using QR codes is dangerous, since they are widespread and by themselves should not be a threat. But we must always bear in mind that a code of this type may be false and it is convenient to review very well where we are entering.
If you access a website, you must make sure that it is the page you expect to visit and not another fake one. In case you have to download a file or appBe very careful because that is where you can suffer the most risk. Check very well what you are downloading so that it does not happen to you like this Singaporean woman who was robbed of €20,000 simply to get a free cup of tea.
On the other hand, having a good anti virus it will always be a good idea. That goes a long way to helping you avoid wildly varied attacks. If you download a file that has a virus, it can help you remove it. It is something that you should always have, both on PC and mobile. In addition, having the system updated is important to correct errors.
As you can see, a simple QR code can be a major problem for your security. It is essential to take action and not fall into common mistakes. You can even use a QR code to connect to Wi-Fi, but always without exposing your security.
