QR codes, these square-ish barcode thingies you’ll be able to scan together with your telephone for fast and easy accessibility to an internet site, are type of the evolution of the AOL key phrase. They’re extremely helpful, saving treasured seconds in 100 other ways and situations. But since a code is principally only a visualized internet handle, you could be cautious of which of them you scan and activate. That’s in line with the most recent shopper alert from the US Federal Trade Commission.

The FTC’s warning blog post (noticed by The Verge) says that scammers are actively utilizing faux and malicious QR codes within the wild — faux within the sense that they’re deceptive, not that they’re non-functional. The put up warns of dummy QR codes positioned in inconspicuous public locations, like on the parking meter the place you’re advised to pay with an app, overlaying up the true service and getting you to enter your cost data right into a honeypot (and probably getting your automobile towed within the discount).

That’s on prime of much less elaborate schemes, which simply ship a QR code in a faux e-mail or textual content message with the intention to add one other layer of obfuscation to a dodgy web site or app obtain. These aren’t remoted incidents — tens of hundreds of such assaults have been documented to this point. The recommendation for safeguarding your self is identical because it ever was. Be cautious of something that’s making an attempt to get you to make a fast resolution, like an e-mail or textual content that claims your package deal has been delayed, and punctiliously examine the URL of a code posted in public earlier than you go to the positioning.