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Scan If You Dare: The Rise of ‘Quishing’ — When QR Codes Go Rogue!


Remember when QR codes felt like magic — a square of pixels that summoned menus, maps, and the promise of contactless convenience? 

Now imagine that same little square as a Trojan horse with a pocket-sized pickpocket inside. 

Welcome to quishing: the delightfully named, deeply annoying scam where attackers replace or plaster malicious QR codes over legitimate ones and watch people willingly deliver their passwords, cards, and sanity.

QR codes are everywhere because they work... 

Restaurants use them for menus and pay-at-table; parking meters, hotel check-ins, doctor’s offices and package-tracking pages all hand you a squiggly little emissary to the web. 

That ubiquity is exactly what makes them a ripe target — and why officials are warning that 'Quishing' is on the rise.

“What’s especially concerning is that legitimate flyers, posters, billboards, or official documents can be easily compromised,” Dustin Brewer, senior director of proactive cybersecurity services at BlueVoyant, told CNBC. 

“Attackers can simply print their own QR code and paste it physically or digitally over a genuine one, making it nearly impossible for the average user to detect the deception.” 

That’s the terrifying efficiency of the tactic: low effort, high reach. 


Stick a fake QR over a bus stop poster and hundreds of commuters become potential victims.

And quishing isn’t limited just to to print... 

Virtual QR codes — the kind you click on to check the shipping status of a package — can also be weaponized. 

IBM’s reporting highlights another uncomfortable truth: while older adults who are also vulnerable to classic phishing scams remain at risk, so are digitally carefree Millennials and Zoomers who reflexively scan without a second thought. 

In short, no age group gets immunity from QR-enabled mischief.

And the technique is alarmingly cheap to scale...

“QR codes weren’t built with security in mind, they were built to make life easier, which also makes them perfect for scammers,” Rob Lee, chief of research, AI, and emerging threats at the SANS Institute, told CNBC. 

“We’ve seen this playbook before with phishing emails; now it just comes with a smiley pixelated square. It’s not panic-worthy yet, but it’s exactly the kind of low-effort, high-return tactic attackers love to scale.” 

Translation: Expect more of it unless we change how we scan.

How Quishing Works in Practice: 

You scan, you’re taken to a site that looks convincing (a fake login, a cloned courier page, a made-up payment portal). 

You type your credentials or enter card details. 

The attacker harvests them and your morning is ruined!

Sometimes the malicious site drops malware, sometimes it captures two-factor codes — the outcome is always a headache.


Practical Tips to Avoid Getting Quished (do these immediately):

• Inspect the sticker or poster for obvious tampering — edges, glue residue, or a clumsily pasted overlay are giveaways.

• Prefer typed URLs from receipts or official apps for sensitive tasks (payments, account logins).

• Use built-in preview functions: many cameras and QR apps show the URL before opening it — check the domain.

• Ignore unsolicited QR prompts from strangers or pop-up flyers. If an employee offers a code, ask them to show it on an official screen.

• Keep device software up to date and run a reputable mobile security app.

• For delivery tracking, log into the carrier’s official app rather than scanning unknown QR links.

Policy folks and businesses can help too: make QR-generated pages short-lived, display visible branding and short domain names, and add tamper-evident seals to physical codes. 

Public-awareness campaigns — yes, the safety equivalent of “look both ways” — would do a lot to blunt a scam that depends on reflex scanning.

Quishing is a reminder that convenience rarely comes without trade-offs. 

Those pixelated squares were supposed to make life easier; now they’re teaching us to be slightly more skeptical on autopilot. 

Scan smart, check twice, and when in doubt — type the URL yourself. 

Your passwords (and your dignity) will thank you!


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#Quishing #QRScams #ScanSmart #BlueVoyant #DustinBrewer #RobLee #SANSInstitute #CNBC #IBMSecurity #QRWarning #CheckTheURL #DontScanEverything #PhishingEvolution #MobileSecurity #TamperAlert

Sources summary (brief): Warnings and analysis from cybersecurity experts and reporting: Dustin Brewer (BlueVoyant) and Rob Lee (SANS Institute) quoted in CNBC; IBM reporting on demographic vulnerability to phishing-style attacks; practical guidance and incident patterns summarized from those expert comments and industry advisories.

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