Motorists are being tricked into handing over hundreds of pounds to fraudsters in a QR code scam at British car parks.
An urgent warning has been issued over the fake QR codes that have been spotted on parking or charging meters across the country.
When scanned, the codes lead motorists, who believe they are paying for a legitimate ticket, to a bogus site that can steal both their money and personal details.
Some motorists claim to have been the target of large scale thefts- with one woman saying she had £1,500 taken from her bank account.
This week suspicious codes were spotted at a car park in Derby, with a councillor saying he fears many could have been tricked into handing over cash.
Councillor Alan Graves said the QR codes at the privately-owned Crompton Street car park took him to a fake website asking for money.
He added that while the stickers have now been removed, he wanted to warn motorists about the dangers associated with the scam.
Councillor Graves told Derbyshire Live: ‘It’s a big crime. The codes take you to a fake website.
‘It was asking for money and you only have to rack up a few people and you can get a lot of money.
Pictured: Fake QR codes at a car park in Denbighshire in north east Wales
An urgent warning has been issued over the fake QR codes that have been spotted on parking or charging meters across the country (file photo)
‘What is worse is the real car park operator will not register them as having paid so they may even get fined.’
MailOnline has contacted Parkopedia which runs Crompton Street car park for comment.
Monmouthshire County Council also issued a similar warning about parking scams yesterday.
A spokesperson for the Welsh local authority said fake QR codes were being stuck to parking machines in council-owned car parks.
They said the codes took users to a subscription scam – charging a joining fee and signing the user up for a diet plan subscription.
Meanwhile in Denbighshire in north east Wales, locals have also been warned of bogus QR codes in car parks.
A county council statement spokesperson said: ‘We have had reports that fraudulent QR codes have been placed on parking meters in the county.
‘Please be careful as the fake website behind the QR codes steals payment details.
‘We do not use QR codes as a payment method at council car parking. You can pay by cash, card, phone or by the official PayByPhone app. Officers will do their best to remove these stickers when they see them.’
And a similar scam was also reported in Guildford in Surrey last month with two fake QR codes spotted in the borough’s car parks.
Lead councillor for commercial services, Catherine Houston, said: ‘We are aware of the increase in QR code parking scams across the country and I want to reassure residents that our teams regularly inspect our car parks to keep them safe and free from fraudulent activities.
‘Criminals are becoming more sophisticated in their methods so if you do spot a QR code in one of our car parks, please don’t scan it; report it to the Council instead.
‘By raising awareness of such scams, we help to protect drivers from being misled so that residents and visitors can use our car parks in confidence.’
Some motorists have claimed that thousands of pounds have been taken from their bank accounts as a result of the scam.
Scam QR codes stuck on display machines and tariff boards across Lytham St Annes in Lancashire
Screen grab from man warning of fake QR code at a car park in Britain
One woman wrote on Facebook that she’d used the St Annes beach car park and was scammed to the tune of £1,500.
She said: ‘I paid for parking, or so I thought, at the St Anne’s Beach car park using this (QR code) as I had no cash.
‘Then £1,500 has gone out of my bank! They said just five minutes after I ‘paid’ someone tried adding my card to their Google Pay.
‘Hopefully I will get it back as police, Action Fraud and the company he’s ordered things from with my card have been informed.
‘Apparently he’s used my card to buy car parts in Hinckley (Leicestershire) My son paid same way on same day and they tried his yesterday too.’
Another victim in Lancashire wrote: ‘I got done by this on Monday. I got an alert from my bank last night about it. It’s all sorted but they tried to use it at Sainsburys for £104.’
Tina Sheppard from Derbyshire also fell prey to the scam in Leicester, which began to take amounts from her bank account reaching £80.
Ms Sheppard told the Derby Telegraph: ‘the code looked totally genuine. I was off to a business event, and, to be honest, my biggest concern was that it was dark and I wanted to get to the hotel where I was dropping my bags off safely
‘I tried to download the parking app on the car park board and it redirected me to a website instead. It looked totally genuine and after putting my card details into the site it crashed.
‘I actually called my husband to help me remotely and he successfully managed to help me from home. The bank then contacted me to ask if I had genuinely purchased from the site, and thinking there was no issue, I said “yes”.’
Luckily Ms Sheppard’s bank was able to retrieve her stolen money.
Last year, drivers in Cheltenham were also targeted by the scam on car parks.
The council’s deputy chief executive Paul Jones urged residents to avoid the QR codes and use cash, card and apple pay instead.
And in Newcastle, drivers were warned not to use QR codes to pay for parking, with at least three victims recorded by Newcastle City Council.
A spokeswoman for the council said: ‘The codes are not linked to any official payment website and are not used by the city council as a payment method.
‘Following each reported incident we have immediately gone to the car park in question to check for, and remove, any unofficial signage. However on each occasion we have found the signs to have already been removed.’
Three council run car parks, Dean Street, Morden Street, and Blandford Square, had been targeted with victims losing £60 from the fraudsters.