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You arrive at your doctor’s office and see a sign asking you to scan a QR code to check in. Later, you receive a text about a prescription. A Medicare notice with your name and address arrives in the mail. Before you leave, another QR code asks you to pay for parking.Â
All of it looks routine. That’s exactly what can make these scams so dangerous. Criminals aren’t limited to sending obvious phishing messages to random people. Personal information available through data brokers and people search websites can help scammers create medical, Medicare and payment scams that look like they were meant specifically for you.
Then a QR code gives them an easy way to send you to a convincing fake website asking for your Medicare number, patient portal login, credit card information or other sensitive data. Here’s what to watch for during your next trip to the doctor’s office and one important step that can make you harder for scammers to target in the first place.
META MEDICARE SCAM ADS TARGETING SENIORS FACE SCRUTINY
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Scammers can use exposed personal data and fake QR codes to make medical, Medicare and payment schemes look legitimate. (iStock)
QR codes have become a normal part of healthcare. Doctors’ offices use them for check-in forms. Pharmacies use them for pickup information. Medicare Advantage and Part D plans may include them in enrollment materials and other communications. Hospitals and medical buildings increasingly use QR codes for parking payments. That familiarity works in a scammer’s favor. When you’re standing inside your doctor’s office holding paperwork that looks official or looking at a sign next to a parking machine, you naturally expect the information to be legitimate. Scammers know that.
A QR code also hides something that a normal web link does not: where it is actually taking you. You can usually glance at a link in an email before clicking it. With a QR code, you see a square filled with black and white patterns. You don’t know where it leads until your phone reads it. That makes the location of the QR code itself part of the deception.
The mechanics of the scam are surprisingly simple.
Scan the code, and you may land on a website designed to resemble your insurer, pharmacy, doctor’s portal or payment processor.
QR code phishing is sometimes called "quishing." The challenge is that many people have become so accustomed to QR codes that scanning one no longer feels like clicking a link.
This is where these scams can become much more convincing. A criminal contacting you may already have access to details such as your: