Now, making payments until connecting to WiFi is enough with a QR code scan. But, don't be fooled or carelessly as long as you scan the QR code, your personal data might be stolen by irresponsible people.
QR codes were invented in the 90s in Japan by Toyota subsidiary Denso Wave to track parts and components during the vehicle manufacturing process. Since then, variants of the QR code have been circulating around the world.
"You can embed whatever you want. People have included music files, pictures, all kinds of things. But the most common are web addresses," said Jason Hong, professor of computer science at Carnegie Mellon University.
Even so, the actual use of QR codes is quite slow compared to now. Maybe because of the acceleration of smartphone use, QR codes have also become more popular than they used to be.
Later, he noted that QR code phishing scams that could cause problems for smartphone users started appearing in 2012.
"People have long known that the problem with QR codes is the lack of 'mutual authentication,'" Hong said. That means that there is no way of knowing whether the data or link associated with the QR code is legal or illegal. He compared it to looking at a business card someone dropped on the ground that had a web address.
Scammers are also getting more and more inventive in how they trick people into clicking on malicious links. His advice, to avoid this type of fraud, is not to scan QR codes randomly displayed in open spaces around the city. Especially those asking for sensitive personal information or payments. If you do have to provide this type of information, it is better to visit the official city, government, or institutional website or application that is approved.
