People in Carlisle are being urged to be vigilant after stickers with fake QR codes have been placed in car parks in the city.
The QR codes take customers to malicious payment websites.
Cumberland Council has issued the warning after stickers were discovered in its Swifts Bank, Civic Centre and Lowther Street car parks in the city on Wednesday.
The stickers have been removed, and the council said it was continuing to monitor its sites.
Fake QR codes are an 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 said it did not use QR codes within its car parks, either on payment machines or notice boards, and would 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.
The council added 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.
