Beware Britons! scammers are using QR codes in car parkings to trick you; here’s how you can protect yourself

Criminals have found a new way to steal personal and financial information using fraudulent QR codes in car parks in the United Kingdom, Action Fraud has warned.

According to The Independent, around £3.5 million ($4.72 million) has vanished due to QR code scams. More than 780 cases of ‘quishing’ were reported to the UK's national reporting centre for fraud and cybercrime between April 2024 and April 2025.

‘Quishing’, also known as QR code phishing, is a type of cyberattack which involves the use of QR codes to trick individuals into visiting fraudulent websites or downloading malware. The use of fraudulent QR codes is most seen in car parks. Criminals make use of stickers to tamper with the scan codes which are already in place on parking machines.


Besides car parks, the scam has also hit online shopping platforms, where sellers are on target of the scammers. They receive a QR code via email asking them to either verify accounts or accept payment for sold items. Moreover, some phishing attacks impersonate HMRC or other UK government schemes.

Action Fraud asks people to stay vigilant

In wake of the QR code scam, people are being asked to stay vigilant before scanning them online or in public places. They have been urged to double-check QR codes to ensure that they are not malicious or tampered with.

Action Fraud has suggested that people should check for signs that codes may have been tampered with, such as a sticker placed over a legitimate QR code. In case of an email received with a QR code, people should be cautious due to an increase in these types of 'quishing' attacks.