Cologne police warn of new scam

Cologne – The police are warning of a new scam that is currently circulating in the greater Cologne is circulating: “Quishing”.

Criminals use QR codes that look deceptively real to send letters from banks to obtain useful customer data.

The recipients are asked to scan the QR code with their own smartphone. They are then redirected to a fake website where they are asked to enter their bank login details.

The data is then forwarded to the fraudsters, allowing them to access their victims’ accounts undisturbed and steal large amounts of money.

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But what can you do about it? “Be just as careful as you would when dealing with emails from unknown senders,” said the Cologne police in a statement on Monday. The codes should therefore only be scanned if the authenticity of the letter has been confirmed.

Officials also recommend setting up multi-factor authentication to access your bank account.

If citizens have nevertheless fallen victim to such a fraud attempt, the police should be contacted immediately and the account in question should be blocked.