Drug dealers turn to QR codes to sell their wares as stickers appear on lampposts with the slogan 'get your delivery' above picture of cannabis leaf

Black and gold 'get your delivery' QR stickers have appeared in MiddlesbroughStickers have also been spotted in Worcester and South-East London

Drug dealers are putting QR code stickers that read ‘get your delivery’ above a picture of a gold cannabis leaf on lampposts to advertise to potential customers.

The latest sticker was spotted near a set of traffic lights in Middlesbrough town centre – just a three-minute walk from a primary school.

It is strategically placed on Borough Road where it can be seen by children from Abingdon primary school, Teesside University students and commuters.

Middlesbrough Council said they were told about similar stickers which they sent staff to remove and Cleveland Police said enquiries are currently ongoing.

Drug dealers are putting QR code stickers that read 'get your delivery' with a gold cannabis leaf underneath on lampposts to advertise to potential customers

Drug dealers are putting QR code stickers that read ‘get your delivery’ with a gold cannabis leaf underneath on lampposts to advertise to potential customers

Hundreds of these these stickers have recently appeared on lampposts, bollards and other street furniture in Worcester and Orpington and Bexleyheath in South-East London.

It was reported that the stickers were also being put on bins, phone boxes and other street furniture.

QR code technology is commonly used by retailers to direct customers to online stores. However drug dealers have taken to using them to bring in new clients from the streets.

It is unknown where the latest QR code leads to with one passerby telling Teesside Live that they ‘didn’t dare scan’ it.

Dozens of black and gold stickers advertising 'get your delivery' were spotted around various streets in the cathedral city of Worcester

Dozens of black and gold stickers advertising ‘get your delivery’ were spotted around various streets in the cathedral city of Worcester

Hundreds of the stickers have also appeared on lampposts, bollards and other street furniture in Orpington and Bexleyheath in South-East London

Hundreds of the stickers have also appeared on lampposts, bollards and other street furniture in Orpington and Bexleyheath in South-East London

It was reported that the stickers were also being put on bins, phone boxes and other street furniture

It was reported that the stickers were also being put on bins, phone boxes and other street furniture

Previous stickers took potential customers to online drug supermarkets with false claims of its products being legal or invited them to join channels on encrypted chat app Telegram, which is popular with criminals.

Payments made in untraceable cryptocurrency and bank transfers are encouraged and dealers boast that cannabis can be delivered in just 24 hours by Royal Mail.

Some cannabis-derived products are now legal in the UK but those containing anything beyond trace levels of the psychoactive compound THC remain Class B illegal drugs.

The recent spate of QR codes being used to drive sales of cannabis coincides with a rise in the same codes being used as a tool for scamming.

Fraud watchdogs have probed hundreds of cases of QR code scams misdirecting drivers to fake parking payment sites.

In November 2023 a 71-year-old woman had £13,000 stolen by a gang of fraudsters using a fake QR code at Thornaby Station car park in Teeside.

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