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Why does that QR Code go to justinsomnia.org?

justinsomnia.org

41–50 of 73 posts

Re: Why does that QR Code go to justinsomnia.org?

#41

QR codes are a massive phishing scam waiting to happen. I'll just go cover up the one at my bank with a sticker of the same exact size that links to my own site that looks exactly like the bank's site. Or maybe I'll put one on the ATM and see how long I get traffic before someone takes it down.

Scanning software should handle this just like browsers the regular phishing sites. This won't eliminate the problem, of course, but it shouldn't be more dangerous then url faking.

Re: Why does that QR Code go to justinsomnia.org?

#43
post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, but you can also put a sticker that says "Go to www.bankofamerica-manage-account.com". Although, it's easier to notice, of course.

QR codes present a much lower barrier to entry though. That means they can be acted on before it occurs to the target that they should think about what they're doing.

They're also not human readable. I can imagine scanning a QR code and not noticing that the URL is somewhat off. If I was forced to type the URL, I would probably realize that it wasn't entirely legitimate.

Re: Why does that QR Code go to justinsomnia.org?

#44

QR codes are a massive phishing scam waiting to happen. I'll just go cover up the one at my bank with a sticker of the same exact size that links to my own site that looks exactly like the bank's site. Or maybe I'll put one on the ATM and see how long I get traffic before someone takes it down.

I also think QR codes could eventually be used by "shock site" trolls as in the bad ol' days on Slashdot. It's perfect because there's no way to inspect the URL before visiting the website. I've scanned a few QR codes on street lamps (for music events, etc.) and this is always in the back of my head.

Here's a much more fun example of a QR code prank: http://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/302963_1... (totally SFW of course)

Re: Why does that QR Code go to justinsomnia.org?

#45

QR codes are the new XML. great technology that's perfect for a certain role but being used in far too many other roles whether it's a horrible fit. But it's another buzzword for a resume!

Not just another buzzword for a resume, I put one on my resume. I got more responses but no more offers doing that. It seemed to grab attention and then distract people.

Re: Why does that QR Code go to justinsomnia.org?

#46
post #25

We use QR codes extensively where I work. We use them in print ads and on TV commercials and I have a re-occurring nightmare that we'll use the 'wrong' QR code somewhere disastrous... like printing a link to our competitors on 10,000 brochures or something like that. I insist that I check all QR codes before they're sent out, and I scan them with 2-3 different QR scanning apps. As another commentor mentioned, I often…

Very curious - are they actually effective? Do people use them? What's the "click-through" rate like?

An interesting data point - Storm On Demand (http://www.stormondemand.com/) use AdWords a lot, and I'm always seeing their ads (clearly Google has designated me their target market - correctly).

Some of their MPU adverts had QR codes in them, and I called this out on Twitter telling them it was moronic to think that anyone would want to scan the QR code off an advert rather than just click it. Their response was that in their testing of many different adverts, the ones with QR codes were getting the best CTRs. They didn't know the reason for this, and neither do I - but it's interesting none-the-less.

Re: Why does that QR Code go to justinsomnia.org?

#47
post #46
post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Very curious - are they actually effective? Do people use them? What's the "click-through" rate like?

An interesting data point - Storm On Demand ( http://www.stormondemand.com/ ) use AdWords a lot, and I'm always seeing their ads (clearly Google has designated me their target market - correctly). Some of their MPU adverts had QR codes in them, and I called this out on Twitter telling them it was moronic to think that anyone would want to scan the QR code off an advert rather than just click it. Their response was th…

It'd be interesting to compare the CTR to the scan-through-rate(% of people that scan the actual QR code).

I'd imagine that quirkiness of a QR code to the average user would pop-out of the page quicker and catch their attention faster than a normal image would.

Re: Why does that QR Code go to justinsomnia.org?

#48
post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

An interesting data point - Storm On Demand ( http://www.stormondemand.com/ ) use AdWords a lot, and I'm always seeing their ads (clearly Google has designated me their target market - correctly). Some of their MPU adverts had QR codes in them, and I called this out on Twitter telling them it was moronic to think that anyone would want to scan the QR code off an advert rather than just click it. Their response was th…

It'd be interesting to compare the CTR to the scan-through-rate(% of people that scan the actual QR code). I'd imagine that quirkiness of a QR code to the average user would pop-out of the page quicker and catch their attention faster than a normal image would.

I did ask that and, while they obviously didn't give figures for either, did say that by CTR they were judging actual clicks - i.e. yes, it was a case of having a QR code making people click it, not that it was making people scan it.

(They were also tracking QR scans seperately, but didn't say how well that was going.)

Re: Why does that QR Code go to justinsomnia.org?

#49
post #19
post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Oh, actually I've never used a QR code reader that didn't show me the URL before letting me decide whether to go there.

Even that's not an absolute assurance, as millions of people who have failed to renew expired domains can attest. And the HTTP status codes have a whole block of redirect codes while just about every web server permits backend proxies. When you visit http://viral.example/ it can already send you anywhere; seeing the URL http://viral.example/qr only tells you that you're getting QR-specific content, and still does not…

I guess the only problem is people can't recognize familiar URLS if you use a redirect page. If you link to a Facebook event for a concert, for example, people could see the trusted domain before visiting.
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