BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) — A trip into downtown Buffalo could cost you hundreds because of a new scam emerging in the city.
7 News has gathered stories from two separate women who have warnings for everyone — watch out for fake QR codes when you're paying to park.
"I don't know how you could be more careful {because} I was as careful as I thought I could be," Kathy Staskiewicz said.
She said went to Shea's last week for a show and parked in a parking lot across the street on Pearl. When she went to pay, she realized she would have to scan a QR code.
"It was terrible because I really didn't wanna do that and we really wanted to pay cash and I was like, 'Oh my goodness I don't like putting my credit card online,' but that was my only option," she explained.
She held up her phone and scanned the QR code. She said she was brought to a website that asked for her name, address and credit card information.
"I put the information in and within, I would say, one minute my phone was pinging from M&T Bank that it was fraud alert," Staskiewicz said.
She said she initially charged $2 and then another $50.
"I opened up my iPhone and used my camera and I just took a picture of that square that they had there and I know that I've done that before to get to different apps and things like that so that's why I wasn't concerned," she said.
Sienkiewicz said she reached out to 7 News after we introduced you to Patrice Williams earlier this week.
Williams was charged $525 overtime after she paid for parking in this prime premium parking lot on Pearl Street. She then contacted her credit card company when she noticed the charges.
"They followed it back to November 26th where she had scanned a QR code for Prime {Premium} Parking when I went to the disco down in Buffalo. I guess when I scanned that, it must have been some type of scan on that QR code," Williams said.
Recently, the Federal Trade Commission put out a new warning letting consumers know scammers are using QR codes to steal your information and some are covering QR codes with "harmful" codes.
The Better Business Bureau suggests to avoid this:
- confirm that the code is legitimate before scanning
- be wary of short URL links
- install a QR scanner with added security
