It is usual for all passengers to upload their boarding passes on social media. People do this for just to share the news that they are going abroad or for a holiday. But now it is warned that doing this will help scammers.
It is requested by some of the cyber security experts that all Passengers should refrain from printing their boarding passes as well as uploading its photo on social media. This is because the that scammers can easily steal their frequent flyer points.
Scammers target travel industry after finance due to the value of frequent flyer points as they can be stolen and sold usually on the dark web for hundreds of dollars. Fraudsters just need the name, booking reference and frequent flyer number of a passenger to take over their account.
Instagram currently has over 116,000 photos of boarding passes under the hashtag #boardingpass, making it easier for fraudsters to get hold of details.
This scam runs on assumption that travellers do not track their frequent flyer points in the same way they check their bank accounts. In one instance, a site called Dream Market was selling 100,000 airline miles for about $880. While hackers not only transfer these stolen points into buyers’ account, they also convert points into gift cards and other commodities, which can be easily sold.
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