For the uninitiated, Coinbase — a cryptocurrency exchange — ran a 60 second spot that featured a QR code bouncing around in a way reminiscent of old DVD screensavers. It was a roaring success.

Add Yahoo as a preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. A person holding up a smartphone and scanning a QR code. In January 2022, the FBI warned about scammers manipulating QR codes.

While Coinbase got more than 20 million of you to scan a QR code during the Super Bowl, we don't need advertisers normalizing scammer behaviors. Since my start in 2008, I've covered a wide variety of ...

The ad generated so much traffic that it crashed Coinbase’s app, which, as I wrote previously, is a bad thing when you’re trying to convince people they should trust you with their financial assets.