How it works
The code opens a page that looks right on a phone screen, where the address bar is easy to miss.
- A sticker over the real code on a menu, table tent, door or sign.
- A fake parking or payment code on a pole or meter.
- A letter or flyer with a code to “pay a fine” or “confirm a delivery.”
- An email with a QR code instead of a link, to get past email filters.
Protect your codes
- Point codes at your own domain (yourbusiness.com/menu), so customers can see it’s you when the preview appears.
- Check printed codes regularly for stickers, especially on tables and outside.
- Print the address next to the code, so people can type it instead.
- Never put a code that leads straight to a payment page where it’s unattended.
- If you use a QR service that redirects, make sure the account is yours and protected; if it lapses, your codes can break or be taken over.
Tell your customers
A line on the menu or sign: “Our menu is at yourbusiness.com/menu. We’ll never ask for payment by QR code.” It’s enough to make most people look twice at a code that goes somewhere else.
Written by Nikita Huttenlocher, founder and lead engineer at Huttenlocher Technologies, a web design and software company in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.