Attention, parking thieves: How to protect your bank details in the Harz!

Attention, parking thieves: How to protect your bank details in the Harz!

In the past few weeks, a new fraud stitch in German cities is increasingly being warned, which also affects the popular holiday destination Harz. The Goslar police have raised the alarm and penetrates to protect drivers from the dangers of fake QR codes on parking machines. Especially in the cities of Bad Harzburg and Goslar, visitors and residents have to be vigilant when it comes to parking.

The journey by car to the Harz is a sociable trip for many to enjoy the impressive landscape and the numerous sights. But modern parking using apps made it easy for fraudsters because they stick over the real QR codes at the machines with their own fake stickers. A simple scanning can then result in fatal financial consequences, because mostly the users end up on a fraudulent website that asks for their payment data. As the News38 , in one case of a user, a four-digit sum was relieved before he was able to block it in good time.

The fraud in the event of quishing

This fraud stitch is called "Quishing" and was discovered in several German cities, including in Bad Harzburg, Goslar, Celle, Hanover and Kassel. The perpetrators use a creative approach: their fake QR codes look deceptively real and lead users on websites that have a real effect, but ultimately only to steal sensitive data. According to the HNA , the police authorities and the State Criminal Police Office Lower Saxony have already become active and repeatedly warn of this dangerous method.

The Merkur recommends to be particularly careful when parking. It is advisable to carefully check the stickers at the machines - if they can be deducted, they should most likely be ignored. In the event of doubts about the authenticity of a QR code, many users also avoid paying cashless and prefer to choose cash so as not to fall into the trap. In particular, the city administrations in the affected regions are trying to examine the parking situations and to implement the appropriate measures to clarify the population.

Fast contact with the bank can help act in good time in the event of a fraudulent payment process and to avert greater financial damage. The LKA also recommends downloading the respective apps of the park provider in order to be able to handle QR codes on machines and thus minimize the risk.

The warnings of the police are clear: if you want to park in the Harz, you should always be attentive and prefer to be on the safe side with suspects or QR codes. Those affected are called up to inform their bank immediately if suspected and to file a complaint. With a little caution, everyone can thwart the dark machinations of the fraudsters!