London – Airways’ frequent flier system has hacked, leaving tens of thousands of customers locked out of their accounts.
The breach meant the airline was forced to lock down affected accounts, leaving holidaymakers unable to use loyalty points to book flights ahead of the Easter break.
British Airways insisted no ‘critical information’ had been stolen, including customers’ names, addresses travel histories or bank details, and claimed hackers had only been able to look at customers’ loyalty points, accumulated through the Avios scheme, which has nearly 6.5million members. The points can be used to pay for flights, car hire, hotels and days out.
Angry customers spoke of their frustration online yesterday. One, Kiran Kaja, wrote on Twitter: ‘Dear @British_Airways, taking away my Avios apparently for my own safety just when I wanted to use them is a stroke of genius.’
The airline is already under fire for overhauling Avios, stripping millions of economy passengers of reward points.
British Airways said it was taking the hacking ‘seriously’ and said accounts would be ‘re-credited in the coming days’.
It is believed the breach was carried out by an automated computer programme, a spokesman added.
Daily Mail