Why do bailiff letters have QR codes printed on them?

Receipt confirmation and debtor tracing

The practice of printing QR codes, or Quick Response codes, on letters and documents originate from the debt collection industry in America.

The UK debt collection industry copied it, and so has the bailiff industry.

The QR code identifies the debtor and points to downloading an app which transfers money from your bank to the bailiff company.

They are seldom trusted because users do not like signing into apps they do not know, let alone give their bank details with an open-wallet direct debit authority.

Instead, bailiff companies use QR codes on letters to debtors when they are unsure where the debtor lives.^[1]

If the QR code is scanned with a device, it clandestinely tells the bailiff company that the debtor has received the letter, and the app reports the location of the device on a map.

They send a bailiff round to look for the debtor or their vehicle, and do a drive-by clamping event.^[2]

This was discovered when a bailiff document was shared on an internet discussion group, and another member of the group scanned the QR code on-screen. The bailiff company sent bailiffs round to the address of the person whose device that scanned the code.

Accessing a device without the owners permission commits an offence which on conviction on indictment, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years or to a fine or to both.^[3]

Creditors must not issue a warrant knowing that the debtor is not at the address, as a means of tracing the debtor at no cost.^[4]

If you want to read a QR code to see what it says, first, disable off Location Services, your WiFi and mobile internet on your device.

An exception is Jacobs,^[5] QR codes on their documents only give random numbers.

^{[1] See Bailiffs and debtor tracing with phishing letters
[2] See Bailiffs and drive-by clamping
[3] Section 1 of the Computer Misuse Act 1990
[4] Paragraph 12 of the Taking Control of Goods: National Standards 2014, April 2014
[5] Jacobs: Simon Jacobs trading as Jacobs.}