Newcastle City Council issues warning over QR code scam

Newcastle City Council has reported three QR code scams to police in the past two weeks.

QR code scammers have been targeting car parks in Newcastle, leaving at least three victims out of pocket.

Drivers are being warned not to use QR codes to pay for parking, after Newcastle City Council received a number of reports of scams.

In the past two weeks, three victims reported losing money after scanning fake codes found in city car parks.

The council has reported all incidents to police and car parks and CCTV across the city are being monitored.

The fraudsters are understood to have placed fake codes in at least three council-run car parks: Dean Street, Morden Street and Blandford Square.

After victims scanned the codes to pay for parking, in each case payments of around £60 were taken from individual accounts.

Newcastle's council have put up signs warning drivers about the scam.

A spokeswoman for the council said: "The codes are not linked to any official payment website and are not used by the city council as a payment method.

"Following each reported incident we have immediately gone to the car park in question to check for, and remove, any unofficial signage. However on each occasion we have found the signs to have already been removed."

'Sleepless nights'

The BBC recently uncovered data showing reports of QR code scams across the country soared from 112 in 2020 to more than 400 in the first nine months of 2023, according to Action Fraud.

Among the victims was one Teesside woman who faced losing more than £13,000 after fraudsters covered over a genuine code with one of their own in Thornaby station car park earlier this year.

She said the experience left her struggling to trust anyone and suffering "sleepless nights".

What is a QR code?

QR stands for "quick response". The black and white squares work like a two-dimensional barcode and can be scanned by a phone or tablet.

Businesses often use them to direct people to things such as app downloads, payment platforms, social media accounts, menus and events listings.

Banking trade association UK Finance says:

• If you are not sure if the website a QR code takes you to is genuine, search for it in your browser instead

• QR code scams can trick people into downloading malware - so ensure phone security is up-to-date

• If you think you have been a victim of a scam, contact your bank and Action Fraud