Just when you thought anti-vaxxers couldn’t get any more annoying, a group of them in South Australia have started to replace the COVID-19 check-in QR codes outside of businesses with fake codes. I just know there’s someone in a dingy room pretending to be a hacker and laughing right now.
I know what you’re thinking: this sounds a lot like a failed plot from the mind of Dr. Doofenshmirtz. “I’m going to cover every QR code in the tristate area Perry the Platypus!” You can see him saying that, can’t you.
Well, it’s a reality, unfortunately. A group of anti-vaxxers in SA’s Adelaide Hills and Blackwood areas have started to place false QR codes over the Government’s COVID-19 check-in codes.
The brand new false codes reportedly take users to websites that promote anti-vaxxer conspiracy theories. One can only assume this is a form of protest against the COVID-19 vaccine.
ABC’s Sonya Feldhoff spoke to Business Chair in SA Nikki Govan about the recent QR code coverups around Adelaide Hills.
“We’ve had a very small number of businesses that we’re aware have been targeted,” Govan told ABC.
“It does appear as though the small number of businesses are those that might have applied their QR code on the outside of their building and it’s made it easier for people to apply a sticker on top of that.”
So basically, businesses that have kept their QR codes inside have not been affected by this recent COVID-19 check-in tamper.
“This is really interrupting a process that is incredibly important for the protection of South Australians as we open up our community,” Govan continued.
However, the false codes reportedly do not work if a user tries to scan the code with the MyGov app. Plan foiled, you wicked QR code assailants.
“If users use the MyGov app, it [the code] won’t take you anywhere. It will simply reject the QR code,” she said.
We truly do live in strange times, but I’m just glad that this tampering has nothing to do with anti-5G folk, because that’s a whole other can of worms that I really didn’t want to get into tonight.
For now, if you live in SA, it is recommended that you use the MyGov app to scan all COVID-19 check-in codes.
