Hacker Newsnew | past | comments | ask | show | jobs | submitlogin

There are actually attacks based on changing public QR codes already!

They don't need anything as sophisticated as this dual QR code, though - the attackers just go to a car park with a "pay by phone" sign, slap their own QR code over the "scan to pay" code, and wait for the credit card details to start coming in.



Hmmm, there might be some criminal utility in capturing <100% of visitors, so that the true owner doesn't easily realize that activity for that location has ceased. In other words, giving up a certain number of victims in order to keep the attack going for longer.

That said, it'd probably be easier to implement that in software, where the phishing site redirects a certain portion of visits back to the legitimate one.

P.S.: There's also the physical stealth aspect, but I think a lenticular design would probably be easier for a human worker to notice, compared to a regular flat sticker which just happens to encode a typo-squatting URL.


I almost got taken in by a fake parking ticket scam, perfect ticket/envelope, the url printed on the ticket led to a 404 on the legitimate city website, the QR code led to a very convincing website/url, especially on mobile.

The only reason I caught it was that I had gotten a legitimate ticket a month prior for parking too close to the fire hydrant and had marked the curb with chalk at the correct distance. So I tried to dispute the fine and discover that the ticket didn’t actually exist. And the city had no interest in the fake ticket whatsoever. They were just like “yeah, it happens all the time”.




Consider applying for YC's Fall 2025 batch! Applications are open till Aug 4

Guidelines | FAQ | Lists | API | Security | Legal | Apply to YC | Contact

Search: