How the scam works

You pull up to a city parking meter, a parking sign, or a parking voucher machine and notice a prominently placed QR code. It may say “Pay for Parking Here” or have a similar message. Happy about the convenient payment method; you scan the code and pay using your email address and credit card number. You don’t receive proof of parking, but you may notice an amount charged to your credit card. You assume that you’ve been charged for parking.

A few weeks later, however, you noticed another charge on your credit card. However, this fee has nothing to do with parking. It’s a recurring charge from an unrelated company posing as the city’s parking fee service. In other scenarios, you may have even unknowingly signed up for an entertainment streaming service. It turns out the QR code was fake, and your information is now in the hands of a scammer.

One consumer shared their experience with BBB Scam Tracker, "QR code in a parking lot in a church was intended to pay for parking. I entered my info into the website thinking I was entering payment info for a parking app, but it was for some digital membership service. I immediately recognized my error and called to place a hold on my credit card and to cancel that credit card number to avoid recurrent charges. The hold for the charge was not successful - it has been processed for $39.99."

In another example, someone shared, "There was a sign by the parking spot asking us to pay with credit card. We followed the instructions to provide our credit card info and expected to pay a few dollars. Our credit card company texted us immediately asking us to confirm a charge of around $49.99. Of course we declined the charge, and we left the place. Few days later, the company tried to charge us again...I was told that we signed up for some kind of streaming service."