The bottom line is that QR codes are tampered with because it is a way to make money, Alex Hamerstone, director of advisory solutions at TrustedSec, a Strongsville, Ohio-based ethical hacking and cyber incident response company, told TheStreet.

“Scammers go where they can make money or steal personal information (to use to make money) and as QR codes continue to become more common, scammers will continue to gravitate towards them,” he said. “The QR code itself is nothing nefarious- a QR code simply presents data which is read by an app on your phone, and directs the user to a web site.”