Drivers are today, Thursday, April 23, warned of the danger of being defrauded by criminals using QR codes in West Devon Borough Council car parks.

The fraud is carried out at car park payment machines with stickers with QR codes on claiming to be official council codes for paying for parking.

However, the codes are nothing to do with the council, which stressed it does not use QR codes.

The false codes are used by fraudsters to steal money of unsuspecting drivers by using their private digital data.

Motorists should, instead, use the official PayByPhone app if they want to pay by the cashless method.

A council spokesman said: “Beware of scammers targeting car parks with fake QR codes.

“Please be aware, we do not use QR codes in any of our car parks.

“To pay cashless, download the official PayByPhone app from the App Store or Google Play.

“If you spot anything suspicious, help us to protect others by reporting the use of the codes in carparks.