Overview

• Criminals are covering official QR codes on parking meters as well as e-charging stations with fake overlays that redirect users to phishing websites designed to steal payment information.
• Incidents have been reported in cities including Hannover, Celle, Goslar, Bad Harzburg, Dortmund and Köln, with some victims charged four-figure sums before noticing the fraud.
• Federal, state and municipal police have issued a nationwide alert and begun systematic inspections of parking and charging machines to detect and remove fraudulent QR stickers.
• Authorities recommend using only official parking apps, manually entering zone codes and closely examining QR codes for suspicious overlays before making any payment.
• Security experts highlight that QR codes’ image-based nature prevents automated verification by standard tools, allowing these scams to evade typical phishing defenses.