Multiple copies of an apparent recruitment flyer for an adult website has been spotted in several restrooms and bulletin boards around both the UHCL Bayou Building and SSCB.

The unsanctioned flyers, which encourage viewers to join the platform and claims users can “make real money online” through their service, features a web address as well as a QR code on the bottom left corner that supposedly leads directly to the site.

Anyone intrigued in further inspecting the website’s content, even if only ironically, is advised to exercise caution and refrain from accessing the site on any device containing sensitive personal information, especially through scanning the QR code. While it is generally understood as common sense to not click or follow links of uncertain origin, this remains especially true with scanning unknown QR codes, which effectively act the same. The main difference is that, due to their abstract shape, QR codes have the added benefit of hiding any suspicious-looking elements that would be displayed in a more traditional URL.

This quality lends QR codes to pose a higher cybersecurity risk than even unknown links, with no way of knowing where a potential user will be sent–or what kind of potentially malicious program their device may be exposed to–until they scan it.

When questioned over the flyers, a representative from the UHCL Police Department (UHCL PD) said they were first notified of the flyers’ presence on campus at 12:59 p.m. and have since been actively working on taking them down. The representative also encouraged all to report any additional sightings of these flyers directly to the UHCL PD, which can be reached by calling their 24-hour phone line at 281-283-2222.