How QR codes in car parks ‘scam’ drivers

Mr Haworth, a photographer from Garforth, near Leeds, told BBC Radio 4’s You and Yours programme: “You have to be extra, extra careful. It’s a pretty clever scam – I guess I’m pretty knowledgeable about IT and scams like that.”

Another patron in the car park scanned the code when told the pay and display machine did not accept coin payments.

Wakefield Council said it had recently changed signs in car parks after becoming aware of the prevalence of parking scams, and when Mr Haworth returned to the site in Carlton Lanes, legal information about mobile phone payment was displayed instead.

Action Fraud told You and Yours it had received 2,600 reports containing the word “parking” so far this year; This number is double the daily recorded figures in 2022.

Increasing awareness of the methods used by fraudsters is thought to be one of the reasons for more reports. Incidents were reported across the country, from Bournemouth to Aberdeen.

Chartered Trading Standards Institute spokeswoman Katherine Hart said the QR code scams of which Mr Haworth fell victim were among the most common.

“This is an emerging trend. It is growing and we see it everywhere now.

“The common factor is that at some point they try to collect data to exploit you financially.”