Featured Image Credit: Getty stock photo
Topics: Technology, Crime
Britt Jones
A terrifying one-step scam that opens up your device to hackers in seconds has been revealed, and you could be targeted.
If you think you're too tech savvy to be scammed, think again.
No matter if you're a Millennial, Gen-Zer, Baby Boomer or even a Gen X (er), you could be on track to having your information stolen within moments.
It's so bad that even an ex-police officer explained just why nobody is safe from the scam and how it can change your life.
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Bo Braxton Da Savage, AKA @fitbocop1914 on social media, said he was only made aware of the 'pretty smart scam' not too long ago but admits it 'would've got' him too if he didn’t already know about it.
According to the former cop, it happens when a victim receives 'free gifts' in the mail.
I know it could be worse but hear him out.
That's how they get you as the package may indicate it's from a company you recognize or perhaps have shopped with before, and it'll have your full name and address on, lulling you into a false sense of security.
In a video shared on Instagram, Bo explained: "So what's going to happen is, you get the package, you're going to look at it and think, 'Aw OK someone sent you a gift'. There's going to be a QR code on the package or in the package.
"[...] And you're going to scan the QR code and once you scan the QR code every bit of information in your phone is going to get sent to the scammer - it's going to send your credit card information, your bank information, your pictures, your phone numbers, your contacts.
"Everything that's in your phone, after you scan that QR code, is going to get sent to the scammer."
If a mysterious package turns up for you, Bo says simply 'take the gift' or 'trash it' but 'do not scan the QR code to find out who the secret sender is'.
He isn't the first to warn about the dangers of QR codes either, as a cybersecurity expert said scanning them willy-nilly can be a fast-track ticket to having your security breached.
Adrianus Warmenhoven, from NordVPN, told Metro that once you scan a dodgy QR code, if you have an 'unpatched browser' or one with a vulnerability and the QR code takes you to your phone's browser, which takes you to the page linked in by an attacker, then a hacker can 'take over and infect the system' on your device.
The scary part is that you probably won't even realize our phone had been accessed by the scammer.
To avoid this happening to you, Warmenhoven warned to treat QR codes as suspiciously as you'd treat any other sort of link.