Falling for mobile scams such as smishing or phishing is as easy as clicking on a link these days. Cybercrime is already a problem in the 4.0 society, which raises alarms and makes digital security a necessity. Some of the data that may be compromised and must be protected is confidential, such as personal information, software, purchases, online banking, government IT systems, and even biometric information, such as fingerprints, facial, retinal, iris, etc.
Cybersecurity companies recommend not trusting the codes you scan completely. This is to avoid scanning altered QR codes that aren't redirected to the correct site and being sent to a fraudulent website. It's also to avoid the theft of personal data associated with accounts and/or web applications. Additionally, it's recommended not to scan codes that don't reveal the link to a specific site or that sometimes offer large prizes just for scanning the code.
The global COVID-19 pandemic is also a factor in the acceleration of QR code use. Therefore, this type of cybercrime is on the rise. A 125% increase in this type of crime was recorded, making it one of the most common, after theft.