Fraudulent QR codes used to pay for parking found at Regency Furniture Stadium in Waldorf, sheriff’s office says

CHARLES COUNTY, Md. (DC News Now) — An investigation is underway after several tampered QR codes were discovered on signs at Regency Furniture Stadium, fraudulently collecting parking payments, according to authorities.

The investigation started on July 1, after someone told the Charles County Sheriff’s Office and staff from the Southern Maryland Blue Crabs that they suspected fraudulent activity involving parking payments at the baseball stadium, located at 11765 St. Linus Drive in Waldorf.

An initial investigation showed that the QR codes placed on multiple parking signs in the stadium’s lot had been altered, according to the Charles County Sheriff’s Office. The tampered codes redirected people to an unauthorized third-party website, where credit card payments were collected.

“The Blue Crabs staff was unaware of the issue, as payments submitted directly through the website and applications listed on the signage—not via the QR codes—were processed correctly and received as intended,” the sheriff’s office said, in a news release Thursday.

It is currently unclear how many people may have unknowingly paid for parking through the unauthorized site or how long the altered codes were in place, investigators noted.

Since the discovery, officials have removed all of the parking signs as detectives work with the Southern Maryland Blue Crabs to investigate. The sheriff’s office urges anyone who recently used a QR code to pay for parking at the stadium to review their credit card statements and other recent transactions.

Anyone who believes they may have been a victim of this scheme should contact Detective Sergeant Hemsley at (301) 609-6562.

DC News Now reached out to the Southern Maryland Blue Crabs for a statement but has not yet heard back.