Exclusive | QR code scams rise in China, putting e-payment security in spotlight
By replacing legitimate merchants’ codes with malevolent copies, fraudsters can gain access to consumers’ data and even raid their bank accounts
It may look harmless enough, with its random pattern of tiny black squares on a white grid, but the next time you scan one of China’s ubiquitous QR codes, you could end up seriously out of pocket.
Because the seemingly innocuous barcode may be hiding malevolent software ready to latch itself onto your smartphone and drain your bank account.
A recent spate of scams involving QR codes – or quick response codes – has shone a spotlight on the issue of security in mobile payments and sparked calls for the authorities to do more to protect consumers.
In Guangdong province, about 90 million yuan (US$13 million) has reportedly been stolen via QR code scams, according to a report this month in the Southern Metropolis Daily.
According to other Chinese news reports, policemen in Foshan, a city in the same province, recently arrested a man on suspicion of pocketing 900,000 yuan through QR code frauds.
The suspect had replaced legitimate codes created by merchants with fake ones embedded with a virus programmed to steal the personal information of consumers.