This week we have an FBI warning about phone scams targeting Android and iPhone users alike.
If you don’t know what a QR code is, it is a square block made up of much smaller pixels, each filling up different parts of the block that can be scanned via smart phone cameras. Think if it kind of like a bar code.
Honestly, in my opinion, they are pretty neat and can make for an easier, more visually pleasing version of a web link that can be used on things like concert flyers, restaurant menus and streaming logins. I’d consider them a pretty innocuous convenience.
The problem with that, however, is that scammers can use them just as easily and just like a website link, they can take you somewhere sketchy and filled with malware that can enter your phone and steal personal data.
Fortunately, these scams are more likely going to be sent to you via email or text so I can recommend that you follow the same guidelines as you would if you were sent a strange web link – although I should note that they can also be made into stickers and slapped around surfaces in town so don’t scan ones in the wild, if if you are curious.
Stick to the ones that you are sure of. Restaurants and logins are safe and typically come directly from the source. As always, never hand out personal information, click on suspicious links or scan random QR codes.
Stay safe out there folks. – Chico Enterprise-Record, Calif./Tribune News Service
