# QR Code Phishing Remediation Mini-Course A free, reviewable cybersecurity awareness course package for teams that need to turn QR-code phishing and mobile credential-risk patterns into practical training. **Use case:** post-simulation remediation, mobile phishing refresher, new-hire security awareness, role-specific training for finance, HR, field teams, executives, MSP clients, and distributed workforces. **Important review boundary:** This course is a starter asset, not legal advice, a compliance guarantee, or a promise that employees will never click risky links. Adapt it to your approved tools, reporting path, data-handling rules, LMS requirements, and review process before assigning it. --- ## Course overview **Working title:** Pause Before You Scan: QR Code Phishing at Work **Estimated seat time:** 6 to 8 minutes **Audience:** General employees, mobile-first workers, finance teams, HR teams, executives, field teams, MSP clients, and anyone who receives workplace messages across email, text, chat, printed signs, or shared documents. **Learning objective:** When a learner sees a QR code tied to a work request, login, payment, document, delivery, event, or urgent update, they should pause, verify the source through an approved channel, avoid entering credentials through unexpected links, and report suspicious messages using the organization's approved process. **Recommended format:** Short lesson, one realistic scenario, two decision questions, one remediation note, and LMS-ready export guidance. --- ## Lesson script QR codes are useful because they move people from the physical world to a digital action quickly. That same convenience creates a security problem: a QR code can hide the destination until after someone scans it. Attackers use that gap to imitate normal work. A QR code might appear in an email about payroll, a text about benefits, a poster near a shared printer, a calendar invitation for a conference, a delivery notice, a fake Microsoft or Google sign-in page, an invoice workflow, or a document that looks like it came from a trusted partner. The risk is not the QR code by itself. The risk is what happens next. If the code sends you to a page asking for credentials, payment details, MFA approval, sensitive files, customer information, or a software install, treat that as a moment to pause. A good rule is simple: if you did not expect the QR code, do not use it as your only source of truth. Verify through an approved path. Open the known company portal directly. Use a saved bookmark. Ask the sender through a trusted channel. Report the message if the request feels unusual, urgent, or outside the normal process. This matters especially on mobile devices. Phones can make security cues harder to inspect. The screen is smaller, people move faster, and the login page may look familiar. Attackers count on that speed. The safer habit is to slow down when the message asks you to scan, sign in, approve, pay, upload, or bypass the usual workflow. If you already scanned a QR code and entered information, report it quickly. Do not hide it. Fast reporting gives the security team more options, including account checks, password resets, MFA review, and warning other employees if the lure is spreading. The goal is not to make everyone suspicious of every QR code. The goal is to help people recognize when a QR code is being used to rush them into an action that should be verified first. --- ## Scenario 1: Payroll QR code email You receive an email that appears to come from HR: > Subject: Action required: confirm payroll tax update > We are updating employee tax records before the end of the week. Scan the QR code below from your phone and sign in with your company account to confirm your information. The message includes the company name and a clean-looking QR code. The sender display name says Human Resources, but you were not expecting a payroll update. **Question:** What should you do next? A. Scan the QR code and sign in because payroll requests are time-sensitive. B. Reply to the email asking whether it is real. C. Open the approved HR or payroll portal directly, or verify the request through the known HR channel before scanning or signing in. D. Forward the email to a coworker and ask them to try it first. **Recommended answer:** C **Teaching feedback:** Payroll requests can be legitimate, but unexpected QR codes that ask for credentials deserve verification. Use the approved HR or payroll portal directly, or contact HR through a trusted channel. Do not rely on the link, QR code, phone number, or reply path inside the suspicious message. --- ## Scenario 2: Conference sign-in poster At an industry event, you see a poster near a registration table that says: > Wi-Fi login and conference slides > Scan here with your work email to access today's materials. The poster looks professional, and other attendees are scanning it. You need the slides for a customer meeting later. **Question:** Which action is safest? A. Scan the code and use your work credentials because the poster is at the event. B. Ask event staff where the official conference materials are posted, then access them through the event's verified website or app. C. Take a photo of the poster and send it to your whole team. D. Use a personal email and reuse a familiar password so your work account is safe. **Recommended answer:** B **Teaching feedback:** Physical placement is not proof that a QR code is safe. Posters, flyers, stickers, and table cards can be copied or tampered with. Verify the official source before entering credentials or downloading files. Do not reuse passwords or move the risk to a personal account. --- ## Scenario 3: Finance payment change attachment A vendor email includes an attached PDF labeled Updated payment instructions. The PDF says the vendor has moved to a new payment portal and includes a QR code to approve the change before the invoice can be processed. **Question:** What should the finance team do? A. Scan the QR code and approve the portal change so the payment is not delayed. B. Verify the payment-change request through the approved vendor-change process using trusted contact details already on file. C. Reply to the sender and ask them to confirm the new payment details in writing. D. Forward the PDF to another finance teammate and ask if they recognize the portal. **Recommended answer:** B **Teaching feedback:** Payment-change requests require the approved verification process. Do not use contact details, links, QR codes, or instructions inside the request as proof. Use vendor information already on file and follow the organization's payment-change workflow. --- ## Remediation note for learners who scanned or clicked If you scanned a QR code and entered credentials, approved an MFA prompt, downloaded a file, or shared sensitive information, report it right away using the approved reporting path. Include what you scanned, where you found it, what information you entered, and whether you approved any prompts. Fast reporting helps the organization respond. It is better to report uncertainty early than to wait until the issue becomes harder to contain. --- ## LMS packaging guidance Recommended LMS setup: - **Completion rule:** learner views the lesson and answers the scenario questions. - **Passing score:** configure according to your LMS and policy. For short remediation, consider requiring review of teaching feedback even after incorrect answers. - **Accessibility review:** confirm readable contrast, captions/transcripts for any audio or video, keyboard-friendly interactions, and clear alt text for QR-code examples. - **Export options:** prepare SCORM, xAPI, HTML, or PDF according to your delivery system and reporting needs. - **Refresh triggers:** update the course when QR-code simulations, payroll workflows, HR portals, event practices, payment-change procedures, or mobile-device guidance changes. --- ## Content Studio prompt to recreate or adapt this course Create a 6-minute cybersecurity awareness micro-course on QR-code phishing at work. The audience is [AUDIENCE]. Teach employees to pause before scanning unexpected QR codes, verify requests through approved channels, avoid entering credentials through unexpected links, and report suspicious messages quickly. Include one HR/payroll scenario, one event or printed-poster scenario, one finance/vendor payment-change scenario, three quiz questions with teaching feedback, a remediation note for learners who scanned or entered information, captions/transcript guidance, LMS-ready export notes, and assumptions that need human review. Keep the tone practical, non-shaming, and proof-safe. Do not claim the course prevents breaches, guarantees compliance, or proves behavior change. --- ## Human review checklist Before publishing or assigning this course, confirm: - The approved phishing or security reporting path is named correctly. - HR/payroll, finance, event, and vendor examples match actual internal procedures. - The course does not ask learners to inspect risky URLs in a way that conflicts with company guidance. - Compliance, privacy, legal, or customer-sensitive language has been reviewed where needed. - LMS settings, completion rules, accessibility checks, and export format are correct. - The course owner and refresh date are documented. --- ## How Content Studio by Jericho helps Content Studio by Jericho helps security, GRC, MSP/vCISO, and L&D teams turn risks like QR-code phishing into reviewable lessons, quiz feedback, remediation notes, captions/transcripts, and LMS-ready exports. SAM, the Content Studio assistant, can help shape the draft and surface assumptions. Human reviewers still decide what is accurate, policy-fit, accessible, and ready to publish. Start at https://contentstudio.jerichosecurity.com/campaigns/course-giveaway-qr-code-phishing-remediation