Android owners warned of bank-draining error after woman ‘loses $20k overnight’

A WOMAN in Singapore has reportedly been swindled out of $20,000 after using a QR code that had been set up by cyber criminals.

The woman, in her 60s, scanned a QR code she saw on a sticker in a bubble tea shop to fill out a survey for a “free cup of milk tea”.

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To complete the survey, the QR code directed her to install a third-party app on her Android phone.

The bogus survey app she had downloaded then snatched an eyewatering $20,000 from her bank account while she slept, local media Straits Times first reported.

Beaver Chua, head of anti-fraud at Singaporean banking group OCBC, called the scam particularly “insidious”.

“This scam is so insidious because scammers take over the victim’s phone,” he said.

“And because victims lose control of their internet banking account, they won’t even know when their savings have been completely wiped out.”

The dodgy app that was downloaded asked the user for some suspicious permissions, which she innocently agreed to.

The app requested access to the phone’s microphone and camera, as well as Android’s Accessibility Service – a functionality for users with special needs that also lets an app control the phone screen.

Scammers can then passively watch the user through their phone, and note down any login details they input elsewhere.

“While malware scams are not particularly new, scammers are getting increasingly innovative,” added Chua.

“Besides website pop-up banners, which are most common, pasting bogus QR codes outside F&B establishments is another cunning way to hook victims as consumers may not be able to differentiate between legitimate and malicious QR codes.”

Chua isn’t the first to notice this.

A report from HP Wolf Security from earlier this year discovered that hackers are increasingly using QR codes to steal people’s data.

Between October last year and March, HP had seen new QR code “scan scam” campaigns emerge almost daily.

With phones and computers more cybersecure than ever, fraudsters have been forced to ‘think outside the box’ with their crimes, the report revealed.

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