Tsukuba City, Ibaraki Prefecture, was distributing cards introducing manhole covers, but the city stopped distributing the cards after it was discovered that scanning the QR code on the card would lead to access to a website unrelated to the city. We urge you to be careful not to access the links.
Tsukuba City has been distributing "manhole cards" since August 2016 in an effort to get people interested in sewerage through manhole covers, and has been distributing English versions since 2017.
The card has a QR code written on it, and when scanned with a smartphone, it used to be possible to access a website promoting the city.
However, this month, employees who scanned the QR code noticed that they were being accessed to a website that mentioned a "casino" that was not affiliated with the city.
According to the city, the original website promoting the city ceased operation in March 2018, but it appears that another company acquired the ``domain'' of this website in 2021. .
On the other hand, the city has stopped distributing the cards because the QR code on the cards had not been changed, which led to this situation, and the city is asking people to be careful not to access the links.
Domains used by public institutions such as local governments across the country are likely to be ranked high on search sites, and are being bought and sold at high prices, raising concerns about misuse.
For this reason, Tsukuba City is trying to prevent misuse by making new domains that are created in the future linked to the city's URL.