The City of Ottawa is warning residents of a recently discovered scam at parking meters involving fraudulent QR codes.
A sticker with a fake QR code has been attached to various machines which, when scanned with a smartphone, navigates residents to a fraudulent version of the PayByPhone website.
“Residents are asked not to scan any QR code that has been placed on a Pay & Display machine, as the City does not include this option on the machines,” the City of Ottawa said Friday.
An example of a fraudulent sticker with a malicious QR code is seen on the right, compared to the official sticker seen on City of Ottawa parking machines on the left. The QR code has been scrambled to prevent it from being scanned by readers. (City of Ottawa/handout)
The City’s stickers seen on parking machines do not include QR codes. Instead, they tell users to visit paybyphone.com, download an app in the Apple App Store or the Google Play Store or call 613-691-1700. The fraudulent stickers include a QR code that sends users to a website URL that includes the phrase “poy by phone.”
If you’ve fallen victim to this scam, you are encouraged to contact your credit card company and inform the Ottawa Police Service at 613-236-1222.
“There are about 650 Pay & Display machines throughout Ottawa, and staff are inspecting them all to remove the fraudulent stickers. If you see a QR code on any of these machines, call 3-1-1 to alert staff so that the stickers can be removed immediately,” the City of Ottawa said.
More information on how to safely pay for parking on Ottawa’s streets can be found on ottawa.ca.