Well done Qantas re an attempted points scam.

[sinophile888]

My husband had an email from Bobby at the Qantas Online store this morning. He rang back and spoke to another operator. My +1 was very cautious about giving out personal information over the phone, given there was an obvious problem with his points. There was a short discussion about security details which involved my husband and the gentleman at Qantas giving alternative numbers and letters to verify the information needed.

It turns out that his frequent flyer account was used to buy 6 x iTunes vouchers for just over 50000 points, leaving only a few thousand points. Also his password was changed and his mobile phone number had the last 2 digits changed.

My husband has decided to park all his points in my account for the time being.

So a big thank you to Qantas for their proactive response.

 

[Isochronous]

Good to see Qantas being proactive about this!

 

[eastwest101]

That is good work by QF - but it highlights some of the security issues that QFF staff have when they know an account is compromised about how to get in touch with the legitimate customer and build the trust required to take the corrective action.

Do you have any idea what happened to your husband such as lost boarding pass, computer compromised, mail stolen or something else that might explain how his account got compromised?

 

[sinophile888]

Do you have any idea what happened to your husband such as lost boarding pass, computer compromised, mail stolen or something else that might explain how his account got compromised?

We travelled overseas recently but with Singapore Airlines. We don't seem to receive any surface mail from Qantas, only electronic communications. Can't think of anything else.

The points were taken yesterday. As the hacker had changed my husband's mobile number, Qantas were unable to contact him by phone. We are most impressed that it was handled so well.

 

[get me outta here]

I wonder why the hacker didn't also alter the email to make contact with you impossible? If that happened how would there Be any contact.

 

[Denali]

Why is iTunes always the fraudsters first step? That's how my bank noticed one of my c/cards was being used illegally.

 

[eastwest101]

I'm still really interested in how the QFF account got compromised/hacked, and as get me outta here says - why wasn't the email address changed as well? I am assuming the password change was done online but I guess this password change process still has to run through a valid existing email address - hence maybe the hacker didn't get a chance to change the email address?

Anyway - I expect the OP's husband is checking all his computers, phones etc to try to track down what happened.

 

[Dr Ralph]

Seems these situations are becoming more common.

 

[Mal]

Why is iTunes always the fraudsters first step? That's how my bank noticed one of my c/cards was being used illegally.

Very good resale value.

 

[medhead]

An email change should trigger an email to the old address. I thought that changing the password also triggered an email about the password change. Was there any email about updated details?

 

[eastwest101]

An email change should trigger an email to the old address. I thought that changing the password also triggered an email about the password change. Was there any email about updated details?

That's what I would think as well, when I changed my QFF PIN online that also generated an email to my email address - the OP's husband might be well advised to check all their Junk/Deleted folders in email to see if the notification didn't end up there?

 

[Dr Ralph]

Why is iTunes always the fraudsters first step? That's how my bank noticed one of my c/cards was being used illegally.

Easy to sell.

 

[dk4]

Anyway - I expect the OP's husband is checking all his computers, phones etc to try to track down what happened.

I am amazed by how many "used" boarding passes I find in seat back pockets. Perhaps it's time for QF to do what some other airlines do - and start blanking out some of the FF number on the boarding pass (and other printed materials)?

e.g. QF**1234** (Just like a credit card receipt.)

 

[sinophile888]

An email change should trigger an email to the old address. I thought that changing the password also triggered an email about the password change. Was there any email about updated details?

There was no contact until the day after the event. And Qantas probably tried to ring my husband on the actual day but got no answer due to the change of mobile number. The last time I checked our accounts was a few months ago when I used my points to book a flight for next year.

We did have trouble withdrawing money in China and so my husband had to use the NAB Qantas Visa as the Citibank and 28 Degrees wouldn't work that day. I don't know if scammers could have got his FF number from that.

 

[eastwest101]

There was no contact until the day after the event. And Qantas probably tried to ring my husband on the actual day but got no answer due to the change of mobile number. The last time I checked our accounts was a few months ago when I used my points to book a flight for next year.

We did have trouble withdrawing money in China and so my husband had to use the NAB Qantas Visa as the Citibank and 28 Degrees wouldn't work that day. I don't know if scammers could have got his FF number from that.

Did your card get taken away from you in China for a brief second to process the transaction? If so you would expect some sort of cloning of the card which may also have had QFF info embedded in the card? Might be worth checking the NAB Qantas Visa for any suspiscious activity.

 

[sinophile888]

Did your card get taken away from you in China for a brief second to process the transaction? If so you would expect some sort of cloning of the card which may also have had QFF info embedded in the card? Might be worth checking the NAB Qantas Visa for any suspiscious activity.

The card was only used at the ATM in a shopping centre. All transactions on the Nab Visa look correct.

Happily, the points were returned yesterday.

Thanks again for your proactivity in this matter, Qantas.

 

[OzEire]

Well done to QF, great service!