蜜芽传媒

They've become increasingly common in our everyday lives - but could a QR code end up costing you dearly?

They're the little square barcodes you see with an invitation to scan them with your phone's camera, often used to give you information, or to take you to a website.

But some people using a council car park in Kidderminster say a QR code there is leading them to a website which then tries to scam them.

Several drivers who've scanned the QR code at Weavers Wharf car park have been directed to a dodgy website, which takes money from their account and then threatens to take more.

Our reporter Tom Edwards has been to meet one victim.

Councillor Ben Brookes, Wyre Forest District Council鈥檚 Cabinet Member for Operational Services said:

鈥淭he council has received calls from four customers saying they鈥檝e scanned a QR code in one of our car parks and it has led them to websites not related to paying for parking.

We understand that in each of these cases the customer has used a third party QR code reader rather than the camera on their phone to scan the code and that it is the QR code reader app rather than the QR code displayed which has led them to a different website.
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Our officers have inspected and tested all QR codes on our ticket machines and they are working correctly and have not been tampered with.

They will continue to check them. We would advise customers to download the MiPermit app from their official app store. As well as using the app, drivers can pay for parking using cash in all of our car parks and there is also the option to call to pay.鈥�

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