Northumbria Police are issuing a new quishing alert, with £3.5 million lost last year to fraudulent QR codes.Consequently, Action Fraud is said to be urging people to look out for rogue QR codes, following 784 reports of ‘quishing’ being made to Action Fraud between April 2024 and April 2025, with almost £3.5 million lost.
Indeed a new alert has been issued by Action Fraud. It warns about quishing, which is a form of phishing where a fraudulent QR code is scanned, designed to steal personal and financial information. The warning “encourages people to stay vigilant and double check QR codes to see if they are malicious, or have been tampered with, before scanning them online or in public spaces”.
Claire Webb, Acting Director of Action Fraud, was quoted as saying:
“QR codes are becoming increasingly common in everyday life, whether it’s scanning one to pay for parking, or receiving an email asking to verify an online account. However, reporting shows cyber criminals are increasingly using quishing as a way to trick the public out of their personal and financial information.
“We’re urging people to stop and check before scanning QR codes, to avoid becoming a victim of quishing. Look out for QR codes that may have been tampered with in open spaces, or emails and texts that might include rogue codes. If you’re in doubt, contact the organisation directly. You can follow our advice on quishing, on our website at www.actionfraud.police.uk to help protect yourself.”
You can find advice about quishing here.
Safe shopping online
Meanwhile, Which? is still concerned about shoppers being scammed online, following the recent Marks and Spencer’s and Coop online shopping scams. The M & S website is back, while the Coop is offering £10 off a shop worth £40 or more, but Which? wants to make sure that you are safe if you go shopping online.
Consequently they have compiled a set of guidelines for you to follow to ensure that you stay safe when shopping online.
Tax and HMRC scams
Which? is also reporting about a number of HMRC and tax scams . They have noted that one of the most popular current scams is to entice you with a tax rebate. This then asks you to provide bank account details so that HMRC can process the tax repayment.
The email or text call will ask for personal information such as your name, address, date of birth, bank and credit card details – including passwords and your mother’s maiden name. Then it will promise you a tax rebate.
Do not provide the information. If you do, your details could be sold on to criminal gangs and money can be stolen from your bank account.
Which also sate that, “tempting as the sound of a rebate may be, HMRC will never ask for your bank account details via text or email so don’t respond”.
Scam sharer tool
If you come across scam you can share it here to help stop others from being scammed.
