Personally, I think a better scam would be to follow clampers (parking boot in US), find cars that have been clamped and replace the release notice instructions with your own version and payment QR code.
Sell a service that cuts the boot off for half the price.
I don’t know why people are throwing their hands up at technology and using quarters when the apps are much more convenient (especially since you can remotely extend your parking time).
Keep quarters in your car and pockets. Sounds stone-aged. But it worked in 2000 and 2010 also.
many scams look just like legitimate incompetent services, or legitimate well crafted services.
there is a meme going around about how scammers target gullible people to filter out more skeptical people, but really thats just one segment of the population.
Each one wants my address and license plate number. Most want my credit card, too.
Each app looks and behaves like it was designed by an intern.
Each app wants to send me notifications on my phone (Ok, I guess if you're concerned about the meter running out).
Some of the apps accept payment, others don't (you have to go to the kiosk in the garage to pay). None of the municipalities I visited allowed cash payment.
Now apparently we need to worry about Phishing QR codes as well.
Is all of this worth not having to run out to the meter and feed it once in a while?
I suppose the builtin Android and iOS code readers will have to get a confirmation step at some point. The classic problem of convenience vs. security.
Reminds me of this blog on redirecting qr code links with cleverly made transparent overlays to change a few blocks in the code.
