Scammers are posting fake QR codes on Denver parking signs; city asks for help
An image provided by the Denver Department of Transportation and Infrastructure shows a QR code sticker placed on a parking meter on Broadway that directs users to a scam website. The city only uses the Pay By Phone app to collect parking fees. (Courtesy of Denver Department of Transportation and Infrastructure)
Scammers are placing fake QR codes on parking signs in Denver that send users to international websites instead of the city’s parking app.
The first batch of fake codes appeared in Cherry Creek the first week in July, said Nancy Kuhn, spokeswoman for Denver’s Department of Transportation and Infrastructure. City workers canvassed the area and scraped off the stickers.
Then, last week, more fake codes appeared along Broadway and Lincoln Street in the Baker and Capitol Hill neighborhoods.
The fake codes are printed on stickers and placed on signs that instruct people how to pay for parking. Once scanned, they take users to a website where they are instructed to enter their personal and credit card information.
The city only uses an app called Pay By Phone to collect parking fees, Kuhn said.
“We’re not going to send you to a website and ask for your credit card,” she said.
The city also generally does not use QR codes on parking signs, except for in the Highland neighborhood. In that neighborhood, some parking signs have a QR code that will direct a user to download the Pay By Phone app.
The city’s QR codes in the Highland neighborhood have green dots in the center and are only on overhead signs, Kuhn said.
“If you run across (one on) a meter outside of LoHi, or if you see one in Cherry Creek, they’re likely fake,” she said.
A photo provided by the Denver Department of Transportation and Infrastructure shows a valid QR code on a parking sign in the Highland neighborhood. The city only uses QR codes on parking signs in the Highland neighborhood. The code directs users to download the Pay By Phone app and does not direct them to a website. (Courtesy of Denver Department of Transportation and Infrastructure)
City officials are asking anyone who finds a fake QR code to report it by calling 311. Denver police have been alerted to the issue as well, Kuhn said.
“We’re trying to address this as quickly as possible,” she said.
Anyone who received a parking citation because they paid the scam website instead of the city should contest the ticket, Kuhn added.
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