
QR Code Degenerators: Unmasking a Crypto Scam - haasted
https://zengo.com/qr-code-degenerators/
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AdmiralAsshat
Given how ubiquitous QR Codes are these days (I received a letter from my
county to pay my property tax via QR code!), it's mind-boggling to me why
Google and Apple don't simply add add native QR scanning to Android and iOS.
Why force us to navigate the minefield of third-party apps for something so
easily done in-house?

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aloknnikhil
iOS >= 11 has a native QR code reader in the camera.

[https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT208843](https://support.apple.com/en-
us/HT208843)

EDIT: 12 -> 11 iOS version correction

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AdmiralAsshat
News to me, thanks! Now I can tell my parents to scrub whatever crap they
grabbed from the appstore.

~~~
wlesieutre
That support document doesn't elaborate the types of codes it can scan, here
are the ones I'm aware of:

    
    
        URLs -> Safari
        Locations -> Maps
        Contacts -> Contacts
        WiFi SSID/password -> Join network

~~~
tuacker
To reduce confusion more: The QR scanner only works on the camera accessed via
the lock screen, but not from the actual "Camera.app"

~~~
wlesieutre
Just tested and this is not the case. In iOS 12 and iPad OS 13 it definitely
works in the camera app launched from home screen.

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9HZZRfNlpR
I have a qr generator website that has been active for 10 years or more,
during the last few years I have had random emails asking me to sell it. I've
decline because I don't want to lose the domain, maybe some of these buyers
are motivated by this, not plastering it with AdSense which I always thought.

~~~
egdod
I don’t doubt it. I’d never heard of this scam before, but it seems obvious in
retrospect.

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davidcollantes
A simple approach:

[https://chart.apis.google.com/chart?cht=qr&chs=250x250&chl=B...](https://chart.apis.google.com/chart?cht=qr&chs=250x250&chl=BTC-
address-goes-here)

Change size as needed.

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OliverJones
Plenty of QR code generators, and QR code readers, aren't associated directly
with cryptocurrency. It's not hard to create and verify a QR code using
software that isn't associated with bitcoin, and so doesn't have a target
painted on it for cybercreeps.

~~~
penagwin
The important part is to verify your QR code is correct.

Even if a site isn't branded for cryptography they just have to sit and wait
for input that looks like a bitcoin address. They can be old a reputable too -
but if somebody buys that website (as has been done with other
websites/browser extensions, also another user in this thread reports
receiving such offers) there would be no way to know.

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w1nst0nsm1th
That's for that kind of things I don't trust Google anymore.

Personnal experience : my landowner wanted me to buy a pair of MBT shoes and
found a site named mbtsolde.com (equivalent in english to mbtsales) which
offered mbt shoes at high discount. Upon payment, the site proposed no paypal
or the usual gateways present on french/belgian e-commerce but instead only
traditional credit card (mastercard and the like).

I signified to my land owner I didn't trust the site, adding paypal was a good
indication about the trust you could grant to an e-commerce. After further
searching, I discovered MBT shoes were subject to scams by chinese companies
impersonnating specialised MBT stores and that the issues was nearly ten years
old.

For privacy concern I don't use (or rarely) google anymore directly and use
instead searx, a open source metasearch engine providing anonymized results of
a hundred classic and specialized search engine, like yandex, yahoo, bing,
qwant, faroo, google, but also torrent site search engine, wikipedia and other
specialised sites...

It took me again 2 other searches with words like "fake mbt shoes" and "how to
recognize fake mbt ?" to finally find the real official MBT site and its
european shop on a subdomain, on a YANDEX search result. The site even inform
the visitor it put in place a certification to recognize authentic shoes and
get informed of the official local dealer where to buy mbt shoes. On the
Google side, most search result were either scam sites, scam blog posts
advertizing scam sites pretending to inform visitor about fake MBT shoes and
amazon search results about MBT shoes (which has an endemic counterfeit
products issue).

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nwah1
I saw a Shark Tank episode where Chris Sacca described QR codes as the herpes
of the Internet. I don't have the same sense of loathing for it that he does,
but that phrase stuck in my mind.

I guess most of the alternatives are just as insecure and annoying, or worse.
NFC isn't really any better, for instance. Logins and touchscreens are no fun,
either.

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misteroo
Hello Everyone. Thanks to whoever posted this. Please post questions about
this. We were happy to share it with the community

Ouriel Ohayon CEO, ZenGo

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baby
How many wallets are scams on github/app store? That’s the real question

