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A series of allegedly fake sites built to generate QR codes have stolen bitcoin from unsuspecting users.
Fake QR Codes Designed to Steal Bitcoin
The total amount of money stolen exceeds $45,000, all of which has been taken over the last four weeks. It’s an unfortunate fact that so much has been stolen when bitcoin has lost so much of its value. Traders have enough to worry about with the economic problems occurring that are bringing bitcoin’s price and status down. Now that so many investors have lost value in their portfolios, they need to worry about losing their coins altogether thanks to a group of malicious sites…
The webpages in question give people the option of entering the addresses of their bitcoin wallets. From there, the wallet address is converted into a QR code that can be saved onto their digital devices, i.e. their laptops, smartphones, etc. The QR code makes it so that users can send and receive bitcoin in the future just by scanning the code rather than having to copy and paste the address they’ve been strapped with.
Wallet addresses have proven difficult in the past considering just how sensitive they are. These addresses are composed of several letters and numbers, and granted one is missed during the copy and paste process, the money being sent could potentially wind up lost forever. The person misses out on the money they’re supposed to get, while the sender has shipped a BTC stash into the dark oblivion.
In the event the money is sent to a incorrect address, the person who owns it becomes the one in charge. They decide, by the goodness of their heart, whether they wish to send the money back or forward it to the right person, and in the end, most people may not be feeling generous… Especially if they just got a big stash of digital money that they have sole control over.
Nevertheless, the idea of a bitcoin wallet address creates several problems and situations that have caused traders stress and anxiety in the past, which is where the QR code can come in handy. However, with so many sites looking to offer this service only as a means of hiding malicious intent, one is completely unsure of who to trust.
The sites were discovered by Harry Denley, the director of security at the My Crypto platform. Among the ones known at press time include bitcoins-qr-code.com, btc-to-qr.com, bitcon-barcode-generator.com, and bitcoinaddresstoqrcode.com to name a few, so it doesn’t take a genius to realize that these sites are ones that should not be visited – especially if you have a wallet stuffed with bitcoin somewhere.
How Did This Happen?
He comments:
I am still unsure on where these sites were advertised to get so many funds.