# How to tell if a QR code is safe before you scan

> Check whether the code is a sticker placed over something else, read the web address your camera shows before opening it, avoid short links that hide the destination, and never enter payment or login details on a page reached from an unexpected code. When in doubt, run it through a QR safety checker.

Canonical page: https://kizmo.io/guides/how-to-tell-if-a-qr-code-is-safe

Updated 2026-09-27.

## Seven checks

1. **Physical check.** Run a finger over the code. A sticker on top of printed signage is the most common sign of fraud.
2. **Context check.** Does it make sense for this code to be here, asking for this?
3. **Address check.** Your camera shows the destination before opening it. Read the domain, not just the start of it: `paypal.com.pay-now.top` is not PayPal.
4. **Spelling check.** Look for swapped letters and numbers: `paypa1`, `arnazon`, `parkmobi1e`.
5. **Short-link check.** Short links hide where you are going. Unmask them with a [checker](/qr-code-checker).
6. **Request check.** A menu should not ask for your card. A parking meter should not ask for your email password.
7. **Pressure check.** Countdown timers, fines that double today, and "verify now" warnings are pressure tactics.

## Use a checker

The free [Kizmo QR safety checker](/qr-code-checker) decodes a photo or screenshot of a code in your browser, follows every redirect without opening the page, checks how old the domain is, and flags brand look-alikes. If it is a Kizmo code, it also shows who registered it and when its destination last changed.


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Kizmo: QR codes you own. https://kizmo.io/