More than 800 Qantas customers may have been affected by a cyber fraud incident, where contractors in India reportedly tried to steal frequent flyer information.
The incident took place over several weeks in July 2024 but was officially confirmed by the airline on October 7, 2024.
Two contractors working for Air India SATS company, which provides ground and cargo services for five major airports in India, have been suspended from their positions.
The two men are accused of attempting to access and making unauthorized changes to customer bookings without permission, trying to move points to accounts they managed. Additionally, the contractors are accused of accessing customer booking details, including passport information. The changes were made through outside airline booking systems.
In a statement to the Daily Mail, published on October 7, 2024, a Qantas spokesperson apologized to the customers for the “fraudulent activity” and said the incident had impacted several airlines.
“As soon as we became aware of this, we worked closely with our airline partners to secure their systems to prevent this issue from happening again,” Qantas said.
The theft was not a result of a cyberattack, but “a case of two rogue employees of one of our suppliers abusing their position to fraudulently steal frequent-flyer points,” the carrier added.
The spokesperson stated that the activity was “stopped back in August”, and customers’ points and status credits have been restored. The airline also stated that none of the current bookings have been affected.
Indian police are currently still investigating the case.
