C17PSGR

I believe a fair amount of this info can be available from some of the hacks. The hackers are becoming increasingly skilled at social engineering and using multiple sources to obtain the additional information.

RogerD408

Never, never, never give the correct answers to those questions. Too much is available online that the answers can usually be found pretty quickly. My choice is to pick a word in the question and spell it backwards, or drop the vowels, or translate to numbers. Just pick the same process, don't write down the process/answers, and change it up from time to time. The more valuable the account the more often you change it up. I may not care if they hack my SuperCuts account, but absolutely care about my AA account!

RogerD408

Yes, and it was probably some sleazeball broker that booked the rez for someone that couldn't pass up the 50% off published rate offer. This results in two victims, the account owner and the guest. The real criminal some obscure email address easily abandoned once the transaction is paid.

MSPeconomist

I'm not so sure I'd call the "guest" a victim. If someone is buying travel services from some sketchy outfit for half or less of the usual retail cost, they're either aware or should be suspicious. Until proven otherwise, I wouldn't just assume that the "buyer" is naive. If something seems too good to be true, it probably is fraudulent in some sense. Airplane tickets, rental cars, and hotel stays don't fall off of trucks.

RogerD408

Yes, those of us that travel a lot learn what to look out for. But as we know there are plenty of people that don't know what to look for. And we know these sleazebags are very good about making their offer look too good to pass up. I'm willing to cut "some" slack for the guest until proven otherwise. I'll bet this was probably an aspirational trip and not just another night in a hotel like it is for most of us.

richarddd

Given mistake fares, cheap fare sales, different prices on different versions of the same company's websites, etc., it can be difficult to know what's "too good to be true".

JonNYC

I agree for the most part. That said, I think we'd need to hear a bit more from supermariogm before it even makes sense to go down that path.

C17PSGR

Well ... perhaps if one is buying a fare from an obviously reputable source ... direct from the airline or hotel, expedia/orbitz/booking/priceline, etc.

Otherwise, to the extent this is a real issue with this poster, its scammers on top of scammers.

Happy

I tend to agree with that.

The buyer obviously have compared prices thru the usual places such as Expedia and Google flights then decided to go for this "bargain" from whoever s/he found offering such.

Cannot say the buyer is 100% innocent. Anytime something is much below the ongoing market price should raise red flag to the buyer. If s/he still decides to buy it (take a chance) then s/he cannot claim being victimized.

Loyalty accounts of both airlines and hotel groups being hacked is an ongoing issue. All one needs to check is to get on the Chinese sites such as Taobao (Alibaba). For example, IHG account name and number is being sold at $30 a night, thanks to IHG group phone reservations only need Name and Account number of the owner. Plenty of fraudulent free nights booked, including the Chase free night certs! Go check out the thread in IHG forum (and also happened to other hotel groups too) on FT, you will realize that selling fraudulently obtained loyalty program information is rampant in mainland China. Many such information are readily available, such as boarding pass and hotel check in. Dont even need online hack. For the hotel loyalty accounts, some people even take the drastic precaution to book award nights very far out in the future so there are not much left in the account to be stolen. Cannot do this with airline programs without incur charges unless one is top elite.

richarddd

Then the problem would seem to be buying from anything other than an obviously reputable source, whatever the pricing might be.

RogerD408

Ok, guys, cool your jets. We have no idea who the guest is (the actual thief or a third-party), how they got the reservation (someone they know or OTA-like website or CraigsList), how much they paid (market or cut-rate). Until that is disclosed we are just guessing (me included). Most likely we will never know.

To me, the bottom line is we need to take precautions to protect our accounts if we perceive value from the loyalty programs. And, as I advise my friends, burn the points/miles as quickly as possible. Their value will never be more than they are today.

jayer

Having had one similar if not exactly the same occurrence, I'm surprised, perhaps pleasantly surprised. the Florida PD is interested.The more normal occurrence is you file an online local police report, get a case number, never see a live person, and never hear anything again because this is so minor it does not ever come near the top of the inbox.

But you do have a police report to turn in and in theory get your miles back soon. Just don't expect a real time resolution.

C17PSGR

Why would someone buy anything from someone that wasn't an obviously reputable source?

kmersh

Of interest, in my Uncle's case he did call his local Police Department and they worked with the Police Department where the reservation was made Los Angeles.

AA did give him back his miles though it took a fairly long while and at first they were sort of accusatory which I understand from this thread is par for the course.

JDiver

Because there's always someone who is greedy and wants a freebie or discount so much they'll undertake risk and hope for the best.

Kind of like Lee S., the guy who showed me the Omega watch he bought for a couple of hundred bucks in a pub from a guy down on his luck. It wasn't keeping time properly and hefigured he'd take it to a shop and have it cleaned and tuned, but his wife had a loupe I could borrow (we were in their antiques shop). The loupe revealed the watch brand was in fact "Ornega". You can get those in China or Hongkers for $12.00 US.