Frequent Flyer Points fraud occurs when cybercriminals gain unauthorized access to airline loyalty accounts and steal or misuse accumulated points. These stolen points can be redeemed for flights, upgrades, or other rewards, often resold for profit. This type of fraud can lead to financial losses for airlines and customers while also damaging customer trust in loyalty programs.
What is Frequent Flyer Points Fraud?
Frequent flyer points fraud involves the unauthorized access and misuse of airline loyalty accounts to steal points or miles. These points have real-world value and can be converted into flights, hotel stays, car rentals, and various other travel-related benefits. Fraudsters target these accounts to access the benefits themselves or sell the points on underground marketplaces for profit.
Understanding the motivations and methods behind this type of fraud is critical for both travelers and airlines in order to safeguard against potential losses.
How Does Frequent Flyer Points Fraud happen?
The process of frequent flyer points fraud begins with cybercriminals gaining unauthorized access to loyalty accounts. This often occurs through credential breaches, where hackers obtain login information from data leaks or phishing attacks. Once they have access, they can transfer or redeem points quickly before the legitimate account holder notices.
These fraudsters use sophisticated tools such as OpenBullet to automate credential stuffing attacks, testing thousands of username-password combinations to gain entry. If successful, they can then either monetize the points themselves or sell the compromised accounts to other criminals.
Examples of Frequent Flyer Points Fraud.
Frequent flyer points fraud is not a new phenomenon, but it has gained traction in underground forums and on platforms like Telegram. Here, cybercriminals exchange information and sell compromised accounts, making it easier for others to commit fraud.
A notable example involves a Telegram bot, which automates the sale of stolen frequent flyer accounts. By bypassing the typical negotiation process, these bots streamline transactions for cybercriminals, increasing the scale and efficiency of their operations.
Another example involves manual approaches, where fraudsters directly contact potential buyers to sell compromised accounts. These interactions often include screenshots as proof of access, ensuring the buyer that the account is indeed vulnerable.
How Does Frequent Flyer Points Fraud impact airlines?
Frequent flyer points fraud has significant financial implications for airlines. It not only results in the loss of revenue but also undermines customer trust and brand reputation. When customers realize their accounts have been compromised, they may lose faith in the airline’s ability to protect their personal information and loyalty rewards.
Additionally, airlines incur costs in reimbursing affected customers, enhancing security measures, and managing the increased volume of customer service inquiries. The ripple effect can be extensive, affecting customer loyalty and the airline’s bottom line.
Preventing Frequent Flyer Points Fraud.
Airlines can combat frequent flyer points fraud by implementing robust security measures and continuously monitoring for suspicious activity. Here are some strategies that can help:
Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA): Implementing MFA adds an extra layer of security, making it more difficult for fraudsters to gain access to accounts even if credentials are compromised.
Behavioral Detection: Implementing systems to detect unusual login patterns by bots against websites and APIs can help identify potential fraudulent activity early on, allowing airlines to take preventative action.
Protect APIs: fraudsters frequently target APIs because they cannot use some bot detection technologies like CAPTCHA. APIs also are optimized for speed and ease of use by client applications, enabling bots to attempt fraud at a quicker pace.
Shortened Session Times: Reducing the duration of user sessions can mitigate the risk of session-based attacks, limiting the window of opportunity for unauthorized access.
Continuous Monitoring: Regularly scanning the dark web for leaked customer credentials enables airlines to act swiftly in securing affected accounts before fraud occurs.
Educating Customers: Encouraging customers to use strong, unique passwords and enabling them to activate security features such as MFA can further protect against unauthorized access.
Frequent flyer points fraud is still fraud.
Frequent flyer points fraud is a growing concern that requires vigilance from both airlines and consumers. By understanding the tactics used by cybercriminals and implementing effective prevention measures, airlines can protect their customers’ loyalty accounts and maintain trust in their brands. Meanwhile, travelers should remain proactive in securing their accounts, ensuring their hard-earned points are safeguarded against fraudulent activity.
For airlines and travelers alike, staying informed about the evolving threat landscape is crucial. By working together, we can reduce the impact of frequent flyer points fraud and keep our skies—and loyalty programs—safe.
How Vercara can help.
Vercara’s UltraAPI offers a robust solution for API security designed to safeguard your entire API ecosystem, including external APIs. As an integrated solution, UltraAPI defends against malicious bots and fraudulent activities while ensuring compliance with regulations. UltraAPI is comprised of three solutions:
UltraAPI Bot Manager detects and prevents API attacks by employing bot mitigation strategies, safeguarding your digital infrastructure, data, and business processes from loss, theft, and fraud. It effectively counters sophisticated bot attacks and abuse of business logic by integrating API threat detection and hunting mechanisms. Utilizing a comprehensive threat database of malicious behaviors, IP addresses, and organizations, it blocks attacks in real time, ensuring robust protection.
UltraAPI Discover provides a comprehensive overview of your external API attack surface through our cloud-based security solutions. Our platform offers an attacker’s perspective on your APIs, regardless of their location. Continuously monitoring and revealing new API endpoints, we ensure your security compliance teams remain fully informed.
UltraAPI Comply ensures compliance by providing real-time visibility, testing, and monitoring. UltraAPI Comply simplifies the identification and correction of errors that may lead to data loss and fraud, ensuring your APIs adhere to security and regulatory standards.
For further insights and resources on combating frequent flyer points fraud, contact us.
