Residents and visitors to Carlisle are being urged to be vigilant after stickers with QR codes on that take customers to malicious payment websites have been placed in car parks in the city.
Cumberland Council is issuing the warning after stickers showing fake QR codes were discovered in some of its car parks, namely Swifts Bank, Civic Centre and Lowther Street. These stickers have now been removed, and the council is continuing to monitor its sites.
Fake QR codes are a well-known and increasingly common method used by scammers to trick customers into handing over their private information by using what appears to be legitimate websites.
The council does not use QR codes within its car parks, either on payment machines or notice boards, and will never place any stickers over card readers.
All payments for parking in council-owned car parks can be made via cash, card on machine itself or via the official MiPermit mobile app. MiPermit should only be downloaded from a trusted source, such as the Apple App Store or Google Play.
- If anyone spots anything that appears unusual or suspicious in any council-owned car park in Cumberland please contact the car parking team by email at [email protected]. Alternatively call 0300 373 3730.