Woman thinks QR code got hacked

A Fort Myers woman believes a fraudulent QR code at Bonita Beach Park near Barefoot Beach caused her credit card to be hacked. She’s on a mission to warn others.

• RELATED: Possible pay-by-text scam in downtown Fort Myers may have cost woman nearly $1,000

Ellie Lorenc visited the area on Friday, November 8th. She said it was a “great” beach day until a few hours later when she got a fraud alert text from her bank.

“It is very frustrating,” said Lorenc. “We were fortunate. We thought to get parking in the parking lot because a lot of times it’s full.”

She spent four hours at the beach and spent eight dollars on parking.

“The only option you have to get parking there is to scan the QR code, and then you have to put in all the information. You have to put in your license plate, and then it asks you for all your credit card information. So I did that, and it was not a problem,” said Lorenc.

Then she went to grab lunch.

“I got the fraud notice on my phone. I got a text. So I had, at that point, to call and let them know that, yes, it was not my purchase and I had to cancel the credit card. So, pretty much my whole lunch was interrupted. Then I had, you know, to go back and cancel all the stuff that credit card is on,” said Lorenc.

She said she’s now out of a credit card.

“I think it is important to let people know that this is going on, and I think it’s more common than people know,” she added.

We contacted Lee County and Collier County officials because the location where Lorenc parked is so close to the county line. None of the agencies have received any complaints about the issue.

However, fraudulent QR codes are an issue across the country. The Better Business Bureau issued an alert over the summer.

BBB: Recent ways scammers are using QR codes

Parking meter payment. Fraudulent QR codes can be placed on the back of parking meters, leading victims to assume they can pay for parking through the QR code if they do not have change. Read more here.

Cryptocurrency wallets and romance scams. The rise of cryptocurrencies has altered traditional thinking about investments, and the confusion surrounding these transactions makes it a ripe ground for scammers to take their toll. Read more here.

Phishing scams. The design of QR codes makes it impossible for the user to know where the code will direct them after scanning, allowing scammers to send victims to phishing websites or downloads that will infect devices with malware. Read more here.

BBB: How to avoid QR scams

Confirm the QR code before scanning. 
Do not open links from strangers.
Be wary of short links. Ensure you are confident that the QR code is legitimate before following short links, as it may send you to a malicious website. Once on the website, look at the URL and verify the domain and subdomain make sense for the organization that supposedly operates it.

Check for tampering. Some scammers attempt to mislead consumers by altering legitimate business ads or placing stickers over the QR code.

“They’re so good at this stuff, they would put a different code, and you wouldn’t even notice it. Their own QR code cover the one and it’s for the parking meter. You’re literally giving them all your information,” said Lorenc.

**This article has been updated to include both Lee and Collier Counties.