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Account fraud / breach: my account compromised, awards taken, etc.

Old Aug 22, 2015, 2:16 pm
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Last edit by: Prospero
This thread is dedicated to issues around American Airlines AAdvantage accounts being invaded, taken over or compromised resulting in theft of awards, miles, upgrades and other instruments - and related issues.

For issues about account freezes or closures, airline accusations of fraud against the AAdvantage programm and the like please see: Account audit / fraud: award / miles / SWU / VIP sale, barter, etc (consolidated).

If you find your account has been breached or have unexplained activity such as awards you did not arrange, contact AA immediately to protect and gain control over your account and to be made whole.

To help protect your account, be sure
  • Have a strong, protected and secure password
  • check your account periodically
  • be aware and keep track of your transactions
  • control or destroy documents such as boarding passes
  • use antivirus software- if your personal computer is hacked they can gain control of your AA account
  • Be very wary of logging into your account on public computers, like at internet cafs or the hotel business center, where keystroke loggers could be installed

If your email information is correct in aa.com, changes to your account should be sent to you as follows (even if someone changes your email address, though it's of no help if someone pirates your email account):

Dear JDiver,

Thanks for visiting AA.com. This email confirms that your account has been updated as follows.

Your contact information has been updated, but is not included in this e-mail for the security of your account.

If you did not change your contact information or if you have any concerns about your account, please contact aa.com Web Services.

If you have unsubscribed to one of our email products, we will remove your address from our mailing list as soon as possible. Please be aware that you may continue to receive emails for up to 10 business days.

If you have subscribed to AA email products and are not receiving them, your Internet Service Provider (ISP) may use filters to prevent unwanted emails from reaching your inbox. Sometimes, these filters also block messages you want to receive. In most cases, adding us to your list of trusted senders will solve this issue. In AOL, select "Add Address"; in Yahoo! Mail, Outlook or Outlook Express select "Add To Address Book"; or Hotmail or MSN, select "Save Address(es)". If you need further assistance, contact your ISP's technical support department and ask how to "whitelist" emails from AA.

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Account fraud / breach: my account compromised, awards taken, etc.

Old Aug 26, 2017, 9:13 am
  #436  
 
Join Date: Jul 2010
Location: SFO
Programs: AA EXP
Posts: 5,270
Originally Posted by Often1
In the abstract, it is "only a couple of plane tickets." But, in reality, this happens with some frequency and if it is not caught & dealt with, that is where the fraudsters go.
I don't think anyone's suggesting that AA not try to discover or deal with instances of fraud.
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Old Aug 26, 2017, 9:19 am
  #437  
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Yes, many times the passenger is not the one that has breached the account but a broker of some sort. Confronting the passenger at the airport might get you the supposed identity of the broker, but more likely they never give their real name and thanks to the internet may not have a physical address where they conduct business. This all sounds like it would be simple to follow up on, but it really isn't (anyone try stopping spam messages lately?). I'm sure AA would like to find someone to eat the cost, but most likely it will be them. More security would be good, but there is a cost to implement that and the added frustration to the customer.

I really hope the six month timeframe was a worst case scenario and not the norm.
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Old Aug 26, 2017, 10:14 am
  #438  
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Originally Posted by RogerD408
I really hope the six month timeframe was a worst case scenario and not the norm.
It's neither. It was a misstatement by the agent who told the OP that.
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Old Aug 26, 2017, 1:33 pm
  #439  
 
Join Date: Dec 2003
Location: NYC
Posts: 6,407
Originally Posted by JonNYC
It's neither. It was a misstatement by the agent who told the OP that.
What should the agent have said?
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Old Aug 26, 2017, 1:48 pm
  #440  
 
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Originally Posted by arizonawildcat
Nope this one was a crime. Three different Asian names booking first class tickets through PEK.
That screams "ticket broker," but the problem for victims such as yourself is that reports here indicate that AA's current approach is to assume the account holder sold the miles to the broker, rather than the victim of a hack. Reportedly, communication from AA security can be harsh and unsympathetic, but presumably once you satisfy them that you are the victim rather than the perpetrator, your miles will be reinstated.

Originally Posted by arizonawildcat
So, I am assuming that no one has any other strategies to get Customer Service to help speed this along?
Given that your pressing concern is your desire to book 2018 award trips for your family, if it were me, I'd look for alternatives to that problem that don't hinge on a speedy resolution to the fraud issue. I don't know if AA would do so, but in theory AAdvantage Customer Service could authorize ticketing the mileage awards, since the fraud case will be resolved long before your travel date, so AA can then pay back the miles loaned to you from the restored miles (or cancel the flights if AA security decides you sold the miles to a broker, but we'll assume that won't happen).

Originally Posted by nrr
Some internet sites allow 2-pass verification (gmail for one), perhaps AA should have this system in place optionally/required when miles are used.
Two-factor authentication has its own set of problems, especially when SMS is the second factor. SMS can and has been hacked. Cell phone numbers can and have been re-ported by fraudsters.

Originally Posted by arizonawildcat
AA could rethink their communication plan of attack when things like this happen to their customers. A little more empathy in what is undoubtedly a stressful situation for those who have lost their hard earned miles would go a long way. Simply quoting in a robotic manner "it can take up to 6 months and no you can't talk to anyone" certainly does not help.

If someone were to have told me personally (even reading from a script of sorts), "Hey, this is a horrible situation and we are really sorry you are experiencing this. Here at AA we take fraud very seriously and have elevated your case to our security team. While it could take several months to unravel the situation and get your miles back into your account, most cases are solved within a few weeks. The next step is typically us reaching back out to verify some additional information so be on the lookout for this request via email. In the mean time, if you have any additional questions, feel free to reach out to this email address: XXXX.
That would be a good idea, but from reports here, not how AA operates.

Originally Posted by Often1
If these tickets represented $5K in revenue forgone each, that is $15K. If that happens only 200x / year, that is $1 Million in shrinkage to AA. And 200 would be the luckiest year in AA's recent history. By far.
I'm not sure where you came up with the $5k/ticket value, but the face value of an itinerary flown on an award is not the value that AA forgoes, since (1) by definition, SAAver awards are seats AA doesn't think it can sell, and (2) the passengers are unlikely to purchase face-value tickets if they don't get the award.

Originally Posted by RogerD408
anyone try stopping spam messages lately?
I'm not sure that stopping spam email is directly comparable to stopping fraudulently obtained mileage awards.
anabolism is offline  
Old Aug 26, 2017, 4:10 pm
  #441  
 
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Originally Posted by anabolism
I don't know if AA would do so, but in theory AAdvantage Customer Service could authorize ticketing the mileage awards, since the fraud case will be resolved long before your travel date, so AA can then pay back the miles loaned to you from the restored miles (or cancel the flights if AA security decides you sold the miles to a broker, but we'll assume that won't happen).
Yep...that was my very first request...and nope, they wouldn't even consider that an option.
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Old Aug 26, 2017, 5:03 pm
  #442  
 
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Originally Posted by arizonawildcat
Yep...that was my very first request...and nope, they wouldn't even consider that an option.
Just to confirm, you asked AAdvantage Customer Service? If it was me, I'd try again, maybe asking for a supervisor, pointing out that AA has no risk, since the travel date is past the expected resolution.
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Old Aug 26, 2017, 6:31 pm
  #443  
 
Join Date: Apr 2001
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Originally Posted by anabolism
Just to confirm, you asked AAdvantage Customer Service? If it was me, I'd try again, maybe asking for a supervisor, pointing out that AA has no risk, since the travel date is past the expected resolution.
Sounds reasonable in many ways but AA is not going to do that.
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Old Aug 26, 2017, 7:03 pm
  #444  
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Originally Posted by anabolism
Just to confirm, you asked AAdvantage Customer Service? If it was me, I'd try again, maybe asking for a supervisor, pointing out that AA has no risk, since the travel date is past the expected resolution.
Well, that assumes the expected resolution is that the account was hacked and the miles stolen, and that they will be returned. Why even bother investigating in that case?
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Old Aug 26, 2017, 7:15 pm
  #445  
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Originally Posted by arizonawildcat
Yep...that was my very first request...and nope, they wouldn't even consider that an option.
Of course they wouldn't.


Originally Posted by anabolism
Just to confirm, you asked AAdvantage Customer Service? If it was me, I'd try again, maybe asking for a supervisor, pointing out that AA has no risk, since the travel date is past the expected resolution.
No, not gonna accomplish anything. I've given him the correct email to contact.
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Old Aug 26, 2017, 7:52 pm
  #446  
 
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Originally Posted by ijgordon
Well, that assumes the expected resolution is that the account was hacked and the miles stolen, and that they will be returned. Why even bother investigating in that case?
No, it doesn't assume the resolution is either way. As I noted when I first mentioned it, since the travel date is well after the expected resolution, AA would have ample time to either repay the loaned miles from the restored miles (if the resolution was in poster's favor) or cancel the award booking (if not).

Originally Posted by JonNYC
Of course they wouldn't.
I don't know why it's an "of course," but obviously you're correct.

Originally Posted by JonNYC
I've given him the correct email to contact.
Glad to read it. Hope it gets resolved soon.
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Old Aug 27, 2017, 6:40 am
  #447  
 
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Originally Posted by rjw242
If you asked the authorities to mobilize tens of thousands of dollars in resources for a couple stolen plane tickets, I suspect the reaction would be something like
The Big Lebowski - leads? - YouTube

maybe the person flying isn't the one behind it, but I don't think sending an officer to the arrival gate would cost tens of thousands of dollars...
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Old Aug 27, 2017, 6:28 pm
  #448  
 
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Just trusting the process and waiting to hear next steps. With everything I have documented and provided to AA I am hopeful that this will be all back to normal soon
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Old Aug 28, 2017, 12:18 am
  #449  
 
Join Date: Sep 2016
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Originally Posted by anabolism
Just to confirm, you asked AAdvantage Customer Service? If it was me, I'd try again, maybe asking for a supervisor, pointing out that AA has no risk, since the travel date is past the expected resolution.
From the viewpoint of AA (or the partner carrier on which an award is redeemed), if the miles do ultimately need to be confiscated and the reservation canceled, there is a real potential cost to having taken the seat(s) out of inventory in the interim and having possibly prevented their sale at the optimal price and time.

It's not like there is a fairy that makes AA (or partners) whole if seats go out empty.
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Old Aug 28, 2017, 1:16 am
  #450  
 
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Originally Posted by JonNYC
... I've given him the correct email to contact.
Is there a reason AA does not widely publish the email?

I would think when this fraudulent activity happens AA would want to move on it quickly and getting the account holder to the right person quickly would be in everyone's best interest.
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