Unexpected scan requirement
A message asks the employee to scan a code for authentication, payroll, benefits, a document, payment, or account recovery.
QR Code Phishing (Quishing) Awareness
How to Recognize and Report QR Code Phishing (Quishing)
QR code phishing, often called quishing, uses a QR code to move the recipient from a message or document to a deceptive website, sign-in page, payment request, or application download.
Use this guide to turn the threat into a clear employee decision, a safe practice scenario, and a reporting step your organization can support.
Plain-English definition • Warning signs • Safe simulation ideas • Reporting practice
01Understand the threat
QR Code Phishing (Quishing): a practical definition
QR code phishing, often called quishing, uses a QR code to move the recipient from a message or document to a deceptive website, sign-in page, payment request, or application download.
The destination may open on a personal or mobile device outside the original email environment. Employees may have less context and fewer visible URL details after scanning.
Source: CISA Phishing Guidance
02Recognition clues
Warning signs employees can check in a qr code phishing (quishing) message
No single clue proves that a message is malicious. Teach employees to combine the request, sender, business context, destination, and available verification route before acting.
Cross-device shift
The instruction moves work from a managed computer to a phone without a clear operational reason.
Hidden destination
The code's destination is not explained, cannot be matched to a known service, or appears only after scanning.
03Safe response
Move from suspicion to a supported next step
| Moment | Employee action | Program preparation |
|---|---|---|
| Before acting | Do not scan the code; open the claimed service through its known application or address and check whether the requested task exists. | Publish the authentic contact, application, or reporting route somewhere employees can reach without using the message. |
| When uncertain | Pause the request and report it through the approved channel with enough context for review. | Explain what the response team needs and how employees will know that their report was received. |
| After an interaction | Stop, contact the responsible team promptly, and describe the action taken without hiding the mistake. | Provide a well-known response route and avoid communications that discourage early reporting. |
Source: NIST: Recognizing, verifying, and reporting phishing
04Practice safely
QR Code Phishing (Quishing) simulation and discussion ideas
Choose one learning objective per exercise. Use fictional people, organizations, accounts, payments, documents, and events, and test the reporting route before sending to employees.
Fictional benefits notice
Present an invented QR code and ask employees to use the known HR portal instead of scanning.
Mobile destination review
Demonstrate how representative devices preview a QR destination without asking employees to visit it.
Report-from-phone drill
Test the documented route for reporting a suspicious code encountered on a desktop or printed document.
05Campaign workflow
Build the exercise around a decision employees can repeat
- 1
Define the behavior
Write down the qr code phishing (quishing) clue being practiced, the expected action, the authorized audience, and the owner of follow-up.
- 2
Confirm the real process
Test the independent verification route, message-reporting option, response handoff, and employee support path from a representative account.
- 3
Pilot the scenario
Check delivery, links, landing content, accessibility, event records, automated inspection, stop conditions, and the explanation employees will receive.
- 4
Review in context
Reconcile intended recipients, successful deliveries, unique employee events, verified reports, response handling, and completed follow-up before drawing conclusions.
Source: NIST SP 800-50 Rev. 1: Building a Cybersecurity and Privacy Learning Program
06Useful measurement
Evaluate recognition, reporting, and the surrounding process
Record actual counts and denominators for delivery, unique recipient events, reports, and follow-up. Separate automated email inspection and repeat events where the available evidence supports doing so.
A qr code phishing (quishing) exercise samples one scenario under one set of conditions. It does not establish an employee's intent, overall security awareness, or likelihood of responding the same way to a real attack.
Use findings to improve the real workflow: clearer verification instructions, easier reporting, faster response handling, better role-specific training, or a business control that reduces reliance on email alone.
Common questions
Common questions about Phishmake's features, onboarding, and support, answered to help you get started with confidence.
Is it safe to scan a QR code just to inspect the link?
Employees should follow the organization's guidance. For an unexpected work request, using the known application or reporting route avoids moving the decision to an unfamiliar destination.
Should simulations require a personal phone?
No. Provide a supported device or an equivalent learning path, and avoid collecting personal-device information as part of the exercise.
Can qr code phishing (quishing) be used in a phishing simulation?
It can be practiced when the scenario is authorized, proportionate, and tied to a real reporting or verification process. Use a controlled code and destination that cannot collect credentials or payment. Do not require a personal phone, install an app, request device permissions, or create unequal scoring for employees without a supported device.
How should qr code phishing (quishing) simulation results be measured?
Review successful delivery, unique employee events, reports, response handling, and completed follow-up. Include scenario difficulty and operating context, and do not treat a click or report as a complete measure of employee risk.
Sources & further reading
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Turn qr code phishing (quishing) awareness into a repeatable response.
Use Phishmake to run controlled employee simulations, review campaign activity, assign relevant training, and keep follow-up records in one workflow.