By Leada Gore
Scammers never run out of ideas aimed at separating you from your money.
The latest is something called quishing.
Quishing – much like similar sounding smishing and phishing – uses subterfuge to direct you to bogus sites in an attempt to get your personally identifiable information, such as Social Security number, user name or passwords, date of birth or credit or debit card number.
Here’s how it works, according to the U.S. Postal Inspection Service:
Quishing is short for QR code phishing. It involves scammers posting signs with QR codes on them in high-traffic locations or sending them via email or text. Once you scan the QR code, you are taken to the scammer’s website, which is disguised to look legitimate, often impersonating a government agency, bank or other company. You are then asked to input personal information and before you know it, your identity or other information is used to carry out crimes such as financial fraud.
Here’s how to avoid becoming a victim of quishing:
- Ask yourself where the QR code came from before you scan it and follow any links. Be extra cautious when scanning QR codes from unsolicited emails or from signs, posters, flyers or other physical locations. If you receive an unexpected email or text with a QR code, don’t scan it, especially if it urges you to act immediately.
- Contact the bank, government agency or company that the scam artist is impersonating to let them know about the issue.
- Protect personal information like cash. Your Social Security number, credit card numbers and other personal information can be used to steal your money, open new accounts or even file for a tax refund.
- Block spam messages. Call your carrier’s customer service number and instruct them to block all text messages sent to you as email and block all multimedia messages sent to you as email.
