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submitted 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

For those who don't know, it's where someone takes a QR code like on a poster for a concert and puts a sticker with a different QR code on top to a fake website that looks like the concert website (or a Rick Roll).

The obvious answer is to scratch off the QR code if you notice it's a sticker, but It's not always acceptable -or legal- to start damaging stuff to check if it's real or not. Also what if it's out of reach on a sign or something?

You can't put a little text under saying what the website is as a sort of checksum because the vandal can just write their own website under their sticker.

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[-] [email protected] 48 points 1 month ago

Plain, readable urls rather than using shortening services is a step in the right direction, but it won't stop lookalike phishing.

[-] [email protected] 4 points 1 month ago

You could put up a poster identical to the first, with a new url

[-] [email protected] 6 points 1 month ago

When my phone scans a QR code it shows what the URL text is without needing to go to the URL. Any time you're thinking about going to a link you gotta consider the risks, but if it says restrauntname.com/menu I'll feel better about it than if it's a url shortener

[-] [email protected] 2 points 1 month ago

And I could put up a poster that says restaurantname.net/menu

[-] [email protected] 33 points 1 month ago

While there's probably no global solution, personally I use a QR Code reader that doesn't actually use the URL, but just displays it and lets me copy it to the clipboard. That way I can inspect it, and if it doesn't look right, ignore it.

[-] [email protected] 2 points 1 month ago

Mine has a setting for it.

[-] [email protected] 18 points 1 month ago

I just don't scan QR codes.

[-] [email protected] 13 points 1 month ago

Unfortunately sometimes it's really hard to avoid. I've been to restaurants that don't even have physical menus. You could probably find a menu on their website, but not always.

[-] [email protected] 22 points 1 month ago

"Hi, I'd like a menu"

"Oh, our resteraunt only has QR codes."

"Ok, bye bye."

[-] [email protected] 21 points 1 month ago

"Sorry date/group of friends/family/work function, we can't eat here. I don't want to scan a QR code."

[-] [email protected] 5 points 1 month ago

Can I use your phone to view the menu? The camera in my phone is broken.

[-] [email protected] 4 points 1 month ago

Which of those groups do you routinely lie to?

[-] [email protected] 8 points 1 month ago

my UNI makes you scan QR codes, that's what sparked this question, I can't change unis because of a qr code.

[-] [email protected] 7 points 1 month ago

Tell me you don't go out with friends, without telling me you don't go out with friends

[-] [email protected] 5 points 1 month ago

I think I've only ever seen 2 or 3 places in my life that didn't have physical menus. I didn't walk out of the ones that didn't, but I haven't been back to any of them.

[-] [email protected] 2 points 1 month ago

I work 7 days a week with 4 different jobs. I don't have time to go out, much less have friends. But I have walked out of places and stopped in a gym signup process because they required a cell phone to use their service.

[-] [email protected] 4 points 1 month ago

Good for you to abandon dark patterns, however, people prioritising socialising might lead to less dark patterns in general.

[-] [email protected] 1 points 1 month ago

Like that one restaurant, with their fancy engraved QR code menus that linked to localhost.

[-] [email protected] 18 points 1 month ago

As far as I know, the options are:

  • Use a QR reader app that doesn't auto open links (or lets you configure it like that), so you see the URL and inspect it before opening the URL in the browser.
  • In case of a short URL, use a short URL resolver so you can see what is the real destination without actually opening the URL yourself.
  • Using a DNS with block lists (that are updated often) of known phishing sites.

If these 3 checks fail, there is not much more you can do.

[-] [email protected] 11 points 1 month ago

Something like this is harder to sticker https://github.com/x-hw/amazing-qr

[-] [email protected] 6 points 1 month ago

That seems quite difficult to combat. Especially if there is a 0 day exploit based in the web browser for iOS or Android devices that attackers could use for their nefarious purposes.

Not sure about Android, but on iOS, when one scans a QR code it shows the web address on the screen that the user then taps on. For the average user, I doubt that they are going to question what the URL is before following through to the website.

Perhaps Apple and Google could implement a sort of verification that a link is suspect or not, and prompt the user to either proceed or not. Anti-phishing blocklists are a thing, so it would seem that it wouldn’t be too difficult. Though that would not stop domains that have not been added to the blocklists from passing the verification attempts.

[-] [email protected] 5 points 1 month ago

Not sure about Android, but on iOS, when one scans a QR code it shows the web address on the screen that the user then taps on. For the average user, I doubt that they are going to question what the URL is before following through to the website.

Android does the same. The problem is most of those QR codes are encoded short links which tells you nothing about where they're taking you.

https://short.link/au1034gha could take you to a PDF on the restaurant's Wordpress site or it could take you to malware or somewhere else you really don't want to go.

In that case, I blame the people generating the codes for using URL shorteners. My org uses them in flyers for the public, and I always have to chastise them and re-create the QR codes because they run the URL to our website through bit [dot] ly. 😡

[-] [email protected] 3 points 1 month ago

I’ve had one recently that used a similar site. It now has an ad and a click through to get to the site. I think it was meant to be a menu. Enshittification at every point.

[-] [email protected] 2 points 1 month ago

Interesting! I did not realize they use bit.ly and such. That would make the solution even more difficult, as Apple and Google would then need to make some sort of deal with every major URL shortening service to somehow be able find out what the URL links to, and then check it against a blocklist. That would require quite a bit of cooperation, to the point of being a non-starter I’d think. Why use a short URL service for a QR code?

[-] [email protected] 5 points 1 month ago

Been thinking for awhile that it's impossible that foreign spies don't hang around D.C. just slapping a handful of these out at popular restaurants and watering holes. kill the URLs after 24 hrs and do it again to stay less detected, you'd get something for lateral movement in any given weekend.

[-] [email protected] 4 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

Easy: Don't scan QR codes. Manually enter the URL yourself. I haven't seen any QR codes advertised anywhere that don't also include the URL somewhere on the flyer, commercial, menu, etc.

[-] [email protected] 3 points 1 month ago

Have seen some in a political campaign. White campaign poster only with a QR code … it was looking like the biggest phishing tactic so rip them out

[-] [email protected] 1 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

Browsers should probably warn if a site on which you are filling forms with personal information or payment methods have been issued with KYC or not. And clearly state to whom physical persona or enterprise that certificate was issued.

Though I worry about the barrier from many people to get those certificates and then privacy concerns. It's a balance between privacy and democracy and fighting scams. My guess is that browsers should only warn in certain websites, but in which websites and how to detect them... That eludes me, seems complex.

[-] [email protected] 1 points 1 month ago

Teach your followers never to trust a QR code that is printed on paper. Only on screens that are on trustworthy devices.

this post was submitted on 08 Jul 2025
45 points (97.9% liked)

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