New scam

How brazenly fraudsters are ripping us off at charging stations

(Bild: Stephan Schätzl)

There is a risk of fraud when charging at public fast-charging stations. According to a media report, drivers are repeatedly falling into the trap of paying by QR code - as this can lead to a fake website under certain circumstances.

This allows fraudsters to obtain the credit card details and then make use of the account. The methods vary.

The magazine auto motor und sport, for example, reports cases in which fraudsters paste over the QR codes on the charging stations and can read the credit card data unnoticed via a false QR code. The fraudsters then attempt to debit money from the bank account.

In another scam, customers are redirected to a deceptively genuine website of the charging station operator via the fake QR code and leave their account details there. The software is programmed in such a way that the charging customers land on the correct website at the second attempt - and quickly forget the initial failed attempt.

The trade journal refers to documented cases from its readers and quotes an IT security expert: "Especially new e-car drivers who are not yet familiar with public charging stations are at risk", in auto motor und sport. He is aware of cases in Belgium, the Netherlands, France, Spain, Italy and Germany.

Beware of stickers!
So-called charging station quishing, derived from phishing, is "definitely a problem within the EU, if not worldwide", says Willems. The expert advises charging station operators not to use stickers; the codes should be shown on the display. "That is safe. Unless someone hacks the charging station. But I haven't heard of that yet, and it would be very difficult."

According to the report, charging station operators deny the problem of charging station quishing. However, they all urge extreme caution. Ionity advises that customers "always ensure that they are redirected to our official payment website when scanning QR codes". E.ON recommends using its own charging app, which also works without a QR code. Those who want to charge ad hoc can use credit card readers on the highway.

Only Ubitricity claims to have found counterfeit QR stickers at "fewer than 30 charging stations" in Berlin. However, no one affected was financially harmed. "Unfortunately, QR codes are not a forgery-proof form of authentication, but they are absolutely essential for a non-discriminatory public charging infrastructure. They represent the current market standard for charging technology," says the Ubitricity spokesperson.

So the only advice that remains is to be cautious - and to use charging cards.