Another very large data breach has occurred, this time in the land down under. If you have a Qantas Airline frequent flyer number, your data has been stolen along with 6 million other customers.
The personal information accessed included names, email addresses, phone numbers, birth dates, and frequent flyer numbers. Luckily no credit card details, financial information, or passport data were accessed.
Potential risks to Qantas customers:
- Phishing and scam attempts: Armed with your name, email, phone number, and frequent flyer number, scammers might send very convincing fake messages pretending to be Qantas.
- Misuse of Frequent Flyer numbers: Though your account credentials may be safe and protected by multi-factor authentication, exposure of your frequent flyer number could lead to unauthorized points redemption attempts.
- Identity theft potential: Full names + birth dates + contact details can be used to build your identity profile and target you with future scams or impersonation. Freeze your credit information at the three main credit bureaus to reduce the risk of identity theft.
I guess I’m fortunate that I didn’t have any data loss from this breach because I’ve never flown Qantas, but unfortunate that I haven’t had the opportunity yet to visit Australia. Keep safe!
