Reese Barcelon
People love sharing details and happenings about themselves in their social media accounts. From a new dog, a new house, the food they ate for lunch, a nice view, their passports, and even their boarding pass.
On the contrary, did you know that a simple gesture of posting a picture of your boarding pass online can allow identity thieves to attack you? Here’s how:
Steve Hui from iflyflat.com.au decided to see how easy it was to obtain personal details from an innocent snap of a boarding pass. He found a post from a traveler who was boarding with Delta Airlines. He simply encoded the details on the boarding pass to get to the ‘Managing Booking’ section of the airline’s website.
Steve said that it was easy to view the full details of what the flyer had paid including when it was purchased, and even the last four digits of the card used. “People could use that information to potentially cancel or change your flights, change your seat or cause other issues.”
If you’re thinking that putting a cover to the sensitive details of your pass can lower the risk of identity theft, you’re mistaken.
Most passes include a bar code which enables the traveler to take a quick look of their flight info without having to log into their accounts in the airline’s website, and that same bar code can be read by a number of free bar code readers online.
“I was able to retrieve all the passenger’s details without seeing the rest of the boarding card,” Steve said. “The text provided full name, flight number, route, booking reference, ticket number, frequent flyer number and more.”
Exposing your boarding pass to the public gives them an access to your confidential information, which even allows them to change anything and give you hassle while you are travelling, or worse steal your identity through these information.
Instead of posting pictures of your pass, why not take one on the airport or the plane? It’s much safer and you have a bigger chance of taking Instagram-worthy shots!
