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QR Code Scanner & Safety Checker

Scan a QR code with your camera, or open a photo or screenshot of one, and see exactly where it goes before you open it. We check links for the tricks used in QR code scams ("quishing"), like fake parking payment pages and lookalike web addresses.

Press Start camera, then point it at the QR code.

Your browser will ask for permission to use the camera. The video stays on your device: nothing is uploaded.

What is quishing?

Quishing is phishing with a QR code. A QR code hides its web address until you scan it, so criminals use them where a normal link would look suspicious:

  • Parking meters and EV chargers: fake stickers placed over the real payment details take you to a lookalike payment page that steals your card details. Councils across the UK have found them.
  • Emails and letters: "scan to keep your account open" or "scan to set up two-step verification" messages, often pretending to be Microsoft, a bank or HMRC. A code in an email also slips past some email security filters.
  • Parcels and flyers: "missed delivery" cards and leaflets with a code to "rearrange delivery" or "claim a prize".

How to stay safe

  • Check where a code goes before you open it. The real domain is the end of the name, just before the first single "/": in https://pay.example.co.uk/parking it's example.co.uk.
  • For parking, pay with the official app you installed yourself, on the website shown on the signs (typed in yourself), or at the machine.
  • Be suspicious of codes on stickers, especially one stuck over another, and of codes that rush you to pay or sign in.
  • Never scan a two-step verification setup code someone has sent you, and never read your security codes out to anyone.

If you've already paid or signed in

  • Card or bank details: call your bank straight away. Dial 159 to reach most UK banks safely, or use the number on the back of your card.
  • A password: change it now, on the real website, and anywhere else you use it. Turn on two-step verification.
  • Report it to Report Fraud at reportfraud.police.uk or on 0300 123 2040. In Scotland, call Police Scotland on 101.
  • Forward scam texts to 7726. Tell the council or car park operator about fake stickers so they can remove them.

Good to know

  • Scanning happens on your device. Images and camera video are never uploaded.
  • We never open the link for you. "Check this link in depth" looks it up from our server, so you don't have to visit it yourself.
  • A clean result isn't a guarantee. New scam sites appear every day, so trust your instincts too.
  • Works with web links, Wi-Fi codes, contact cards, phone numbers, text messages, emails, calendar events, payment codes and authenticator codes.

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