Scammers now using QR codes for fraud, NITDA warns Nigerians 

The National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) has warned Nigerians to be wary of scanning QR codes as scammers are now using them to defraud users. 

The Agency in its latest advisory issued on Saturday said bad actors are now using QR codes for phishing scams, payment fraud, as well as data theft. NITDA said the QR codes are also being used for identity thefts. 

A QR code is a machine-readable code consisting of an array of black and white squares, typically used for storing URLs or other information for reading by the camera on a smartphone. 

While advising Nigerians to scan QR codes with caution, the Technology Development Agency said: 

According to NITDA, scammers utilize QR codes in various ways to achieve their nefarious goals. It highlighted the various ways by saying: 

To guard against falling victim to scammers, NITDA advised users of QR codes to be wary of scanning codes from unfamiliar sources or unsolicited messages.  It also urged users to verify the legitimacy of QR codes and associated links before scanning them. 

According to NITDA, using reputable QR code scanning apps with built-in security features and updating devices with the latest antivirus software and security patches could also help in safeguarding QR code users.