Finally got tricked into scanning a QR code on a printer panel...

Went to fix a jam on a Canon at a dental office last week, and the recovery screen wanted me to scan a QR to get the manual - turns out it was a phishing ad injected into the admin panel. Has anyone else seen these fake support QR codes popping up on office machines?

2 comments

2 Comments

gavin_mason314d ago

Saw this exact thing on a Brother MFC at a real estate office last month. The QR took me to a fake microsoft page asking for credentials. I ended up pulling the ethernet cable and doing a factory reset through the physical buttons, which cleared whatever adware they injected. Then I blocked all USB and network printing for non-admin users in the settings. Pain in the ass but better than letting clients scan that mess.

margaret_lane4d agoTop Commenter

Why would anyone assume a random QR code in an office is legit in the first place, @gavin_mason31? You blocked network printing for non-admins, but isn't the real problem that someone put that sticker on the machine without anyone questioning it? If a real estate office can't keep their own printers secure, how are clients supposed to trust them with their personal info? Most people tap those codes without a second thought and that's the real issue here, not the QR itself. Factory resets and security settings are just bandaids if the staff isn't trained to spot obvious scams like that.