ATLANTA — Frequent fliers say hackers are piloting thousands of their accumulated air miles right out of their online accounts.
A Delta flier reached out to Channel 2 Investigative Reporter Ashli Lincoln after he says he watched hundreds of thousands of his SkyMiles get drained out of his account.
Consumer advisor Katy Nastro says hackers are keeping a watchful eye over dormant frequent flyer miles.
“It’s prevalent and it’s very frowned against, especially by the airlines,” said Nastro.
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Consumer experts say something as simple as having an easy to guess password can get your account hacked.
“While there’s no data that the public has access to and how frequently this is happening it’s definitely has happened more and more over the years,” Nastro told Lincoln.
Mark Rosenberg reached out to Channel 2 Action News after hundreds of thousands of miles were stolen from his account.
“Prior to this I had maybe 300,090, and then when this happened it went down to about 10,000 miles,” Rosenberg said.
Rosenberg has been a Delta SkyMiles member for 40 years, having traveled to multiple countries. He says experiencing this type of theft was a first.
“I would like Delta to take some steps to explain what happened,” said Rosenberg.
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Nastor says it can be as simple as figuring out your password; phishing attempts, data breaches, or promotional fraud. All of these efforts, Nastor says are attempts to gain your personal account information.
“Always, want to be conscious to what your balance looks like,” said Nastor.
Nastor says if you fall victim report the theft to your airline immediately and make a report with the federal trade commission.
“Unfortunately there’s no real legal action that you are entitled to, if this does happen to you,” she said.
Nastor says legally airlines are not required to give you your miles back. In Rosenberg’s case, Delta did reimburse him his miles. However, they have not indicated how his account was hacked.
Channel 2 Action News has reached out to Delta for a statement, but has not received a response.
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