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BA Investigating Theft of Personal and Financial Data

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Old Sep 7, 2018, 8:15 am
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On Thursday 6 September 2018 at about 1830 London time (UTC+1), BA announced that there had been a data breach involving customers using the BA website and the BA mobile app.

Updates from BA are being posted to this ba.com page: https://www.britishairways.com/en-gb...st-information
A further update dated 25 October 2018 can be found in this post 1377. The SPG Law class action thread can be found here.

As at 1400 London time on Tuesday 11 September 2018, the body of that page read:-
Customer data theft

We are investigating, as a matter of urgency, the theft of customer data between 22:58 BST August 21 2018 until 21:45 BST September 5 2018 from our website, ba.com, and our mobile app.

The stolen data included personal and financial details of customers making bookings and changes on ba.com and the airline’s app. The data did not include travel or passport details.

The theft has been reported to the authorities and our website is now working normally.

What to do if you have been affected

If you believe you may have been affected because you made a booking or paid to change to your booking with a credit or debit card on ba.com or the mobile app between 22:58 BST August 21 2018 until 21:45 BST September 5 2018, we recommend you contact your bank or credit card provider and follow their advice.

We understand that this incident will cause concern and inconvenience. We are contacting all affected customers to say sorry, and we will continue to update them in the coming days.

Phishing

Customers should also be aware that fraudsters may be claiming to be British Airways and attempt to gather personal information by deception (known as 'phishing').

We will not be contacting any customers asking for payment card details and any such requests should be reported to the police and relevant authorities.

See below for more information on how to validate that the email you have received from us is genuine.
That is followed by a series of FAQs. These are reproduced at the end of this wikipost.

If you are experiencing difficulties in changing your BA password or want further information about doing so, some information is in this thread: https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/brit...rd-ba-com.html (which also has a wikipost).

Reports from FTers suggest that credit card companies and banks are taking differing approaches to this incident:-
  • American Express - A recorded message says they are aware of the breach, there is no need to take any further action and if you suffer any financial loss you will be fully compensated; an email says: "There is no action you need to take – we will contact you immediately if there's any unusual activity with your Account. In the meantime you can continue to use your Card as normal" (see post 293, post 401, post 470 and post 491).
  • Barclaycard - They just assured me I was fully protected, and I didn't need to do anything yet (see post 253); however at 18.20 on 7/9/18 the customer service helpline automated message says that affected cards are being reissued (see post 511).
  • Barclays Bank - They have contacted people they believe to have been affected, and have blocked their cards from online use (website/app), but the cards remain valid for physical (chip & PIN) transactions in shops, ATMs etc. New cards being dispatched "within a week" (see post 918).
  • Capital One - online transactions being blocked, new cards being issued (see post 493).
  • Chase (British Airways visa) - no contact from Chase about data breach and card still working
  • HSBC Premier Mastercard - Offering customers the option to freeze the card or replace it with a new card (see post 274).
  • Lloyds - Said "wait and see", but did give the option to cancel the card and have it reissued (see post 403).
  • Lloyds Mastercard - Based on the information they have, fraudulent use of my card is unlikely, just keep an eye on online banking and report anything suspicious (see post 370).
  • Monzo - Automatically replacing all cards (see post 371).
  • Natwest- Of the opinion that as there had been no fraudulent activity on my account to just keep an eye on things, and to call immediately if any suspicious transactions appear and fraud team would refund (post 315).
  • Sainsburys Bank - seem to be replacing all cards proactively (see post 968)
  • Starling - Automatically replacing cards (see post 460).
  • Tesco Bank - Pro-actively sending a new card as per details in this post (post 484)
  • TSB - Call the Telephone Banking Team on 03459 758758 to discuss further (see post 437).
  • Vanquis - online transactions being blocked, new cards being issued (see post 493).
FAQs (as at 1400 London time on Tuesday 11 September 2018):-
Have I been affected?

How do I know if I have been affected?

Customers who made bookings or changes to their bookings on ba.com or our mobile app between 22:58 BST August 21, 2018 and 21:45 BST September 5, 2018 may have been affected.

We advise any customers who believe they may have been affected to contact their banks or credit card providers and follow their advice.

We are experiencing high call volumes into our contact centres so please continue to check this page for the latest information.

Contact us

What data has been lost?

The personal and financial details of customers making bookings on ba.com and our mobile app between 22:58 BST August 21, 2018 and 21:45 BST September 5, 2018 was compromised. No passport or travel details were stolen. Only customers who made bookings between these dates are affected.

Names, billing address, email address and all bank card details were all at risk.

Did this affect just new bookings or any payment transaction made within the impacted time period?

All payment transactions made on ba.com or our mobile app from 22:58 BST August 21 2018 to 21:45 September 5 2018 inclusive were affected. Nothing before or after these dates and times was impacted. Payments made through our call centres, travel agents or online travel sites are not affected.

Are my saved payment card details safe if they were used to make a booking in that period?

If you made a payment using a saved card on ba.com or the mobile app from 22:58 BST August 21, 2018 to 21:45 September 5, 2018 inclusive, you may have been impacted.

No Executive Club accounts were compromised in the data theft. There is no impact to Avios or details stored with the British Airways Executive Club.

Has saved credit card data been stolen, even if a booking hasn’t been made in that period?

No, saved payment card data has not been compromised. However, if you made a payment using a saved card on ba.com or the mobile app from 22:58 BST August 21, 2018 to 21:45 September 5, 2018 inclusive, you may have been impacted.

How were phone numbers not affected?

Phone number information is collected in a separate part of the booking process and is not used as part of the payment transaction therefore this has not been impacted.

I used PayPal to pay for my ba.com transaction. Is this impacted?

If you booked through PayPal, your PayPal account will not have been compromised. There does remain the risk that some of your personal information such as your name and address may have been accessed. No passport details or travel details were compromised.

Is Apple Pay affected?

If you used Apple Pay via the mobile app then your data will not have been compromised.

I had a failed payment attempt during the affected time period – am I affected?

If you clicked the pay button on ba.com then the transaction would have taken place even if the outcome was unsuccessful and the data would have been compromised.

We advise any concerned customers to contact their banks or credit card providers and follow their advice.

Will I be affected if I made a free change to my booking but my payment card details were saved in the reservation?

If you made a free change to your booking via ba.com and did not use your payment card as part of that transaction, then you will not have been impacted.

Are travel agent bookings affected?

Only bookings or changes to bookings made directly with ba.com or the mobile app between 22:58 BST August 21, 2018 and 21:45 BST September 5, 2018 were affected.

If a change was made to a travel agent booking on ba.com and payment made for an additional product, such as seat reservations or excess baggage, then these would be affected.

Does this affect Executive Club accounts in any way? i.e. missing Avios/ Tier Points

No accounts were compromised in the data theft. There is no impact to Avios or details stored with the British Airways Executive Club.

I received an email about the data theft, however I only cancelled a booking during this time – will I be affected?

If you cancelled and refunded your booking between 22:58 BST August 21, 2018 and 21:45 September 5, 2018, you will not have been impacted.

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What should I do if I think I am affected?

Should I call my bank or cancel my credit cards?

We recommend that all customers who made bookings or changes to their bookings with ba.com or the mobile app, between 22:58 BST August 21, 2018 and 21:45 BST September 5, 2018, contact their banks or credit card providers and follow their advice.

I think my card was compromised when I made a booking on ba.com outside of the time period – what should I do?

The data theft relates to customer bookings made or changed between 22:58 BST August 21, 2018 and 21:45 September 5, 2018 only.

We advise any concerned customers to contact their banks or credit card providers and follow their advice.

How would I know if I have been a victim of identity theft?

There are a number of signs to look out for that may indicate that you might have been a victim of identity theft:-
  • Post from your bank or utility provider doesn’t arrive.
  • You apply for state benefits, but are told you are already claiming.
  • Refused financial services, credit cards or a loan, despite having a good credit rating.
  • Receiving letters in your name from solicitors or debt collectors for debts that aren’t yours.
If you think that you might be a victim of identity theft, then you should:
  • Request a copy of your credit file to check for any suspicious credit applications.
  • Report the theft of personal information and suspicious credit applications to the police and ask for a crime reference number.
  • If fraud has been committed, contact Action Fraud.
I have had some suspicious emails or phone calls – are they legitimate?

If you are concerned about an email, we recommend that you don't click on any links, open any documents or reply to it until you have looked into it further.

Official emails relating to this theft will be sent from: [email protected]. You should hover over the sent email address to confirm this is where the email has been sent from before clicking on it.

British Airways will never proactively contact you to request your personal or confidential information. If you ever receive an email or call, claiming to be from us, requesting this information, please report it to us straight away.

We've put the details of the scams we're aware of on our ba.com website security page. There's also security essentials information to help you, along with details of how to report any new scams to us (or other emails/calls that have concerned you).

Will I be reimbursed?

We take the protection of our customers’ data seriously and are very sorry for the concern that this criminal activity has caused.

We will continue to keep our customers updated with the very latest information.

No customer will be out of pocket as a direct result of the criminal theft of data from ba.com and the airline’s mobile app. Any customer who made a booking between 22:58 BST August 21 2018 and 21:45 BST September 5 2018 will be reimbursed for any fraudulent activity on their accounts as a direct result of the data theft and we shall advise the process for this in due course.

We will be offering a 12-month credit rating monitoring service to any affected customer who is concerned about an impact to their credit rating, provided by specialists in the field and will share details of this in the near future.

Will BA pay for costs associated with getting new cards, e.g. postage costs?

No customer will be out of pocket as a direct result of the criminal theft of data from ba.com and the airline’s mobile app. We are working through the process and will update our customers as soon as we can.

How do I reset my ba.com password?

ba.com and Executive Club accounts have not been compromised and your login details are safe.

However, if you’d like to change your password, first ensure you are logged out of ba.com and click the Forgotten Pin/Password link on the top right-hand corner of the homepage. We recommend you choose a unique password that you do not use for any other online account.

We are aware of some customers experiencing intermittent issues when attempting to reset their passwords. We are working on resolving this as quickly as possible.

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How does this affect my bookings?

What shall I do if I am due to travel today?

The incident has been resolved and all systems are working normally so customers due to travel can check-in online as normal.

Will I still be able to check in?

Yes, all customers booked on our flights will be able to check in as normal.

Will this affect any future bookings?

The incident has been resolved and ba.com is working normally so future bookings will not be affected.

Will bookings made over the period of this incident remain confirmed?

Yes, all bookings made remain valid for travel.

If I cancelled the card my booking was made with what do I need to bring to the airport?

The payment card that was used to pay for the booking should be brought to the airport if you are the owner of the card and are travelling. However, if the payment card has expired since the booking was made and you have a new card, or you don't have the original card used for payment, please print out a copy of your flight itinerary from Manage my Booking.

I have now cancelled my credit card, but I had used that card to make a future flight booking, so how will I be able to access that booking?
You do not need to enter your payment card details when retrieving an existing booking via Manage My Booking on ba.com, so access to future booking is not restricted due to the cancellation of the payment card.
As of Wednesday 12th September, affected customers are being emailed with the following additional information

We deeply apologise for any worry and inconvenience this criminal activity has caused. For your reassurance, we’re offering you 12 months of free credit and identity monitoring services, provided by Experian, one of the UK’s leading Credit Reference agencies.

Your free ProtectMyID membership
To help you to monitor your personal information for certain signs of potential identity theft, we are offering you a free 12 month membership to Experian ProtectMyID. This service helps detect possible misuse of your personal data and provides you with identity monitoring support, focussed on the identification and resolution of identity theft.

Activating your free ProtectMyID membership
1. Ensure that you sign up for the service by 12 December 2018. Your code expires after this date.
2. Visit the ProtectMyID website to get started.
3. Click on ‘Join ProtectMyID’ (top right-hand side).
4. Enter your details along with the following activation code: XXXXXXXX
This code is unique to you and only available in this email – please keep this email for reference.

Once your membership is activated, you’ll have access to the following features:
1. Unlimited access to your Experian Credit Report.
2. Credit Alerting – an email or text to let you know when certain changes happen on your Experian Credit Report, such as the addition of a new credit search.
3. Access to an Identity Theft Resolution service if you do become a victim of fraud, where you’ll have a dedicated case worker who will support you in resolving fraud that has occurred.
4. If you are at higher risk of fraud, Experian can add protective Cifas registration to your credit report which can help prevent credit being taken in your name. The Cifas Protective Registration service places a flag alongside your name and personal details in the National Fraud Database. Companies and organisations who are signed up as members of the database will see you’re at risk and take extra steps to protect you.

If you have any questions regarding this service, then please contact Experian’s Customer Support Centre on 03444 818182*. They are open Monday to Friday, 8am to 8pm and Saturday, 9am to 5pm.
Note that the email from BA gives you a personal "Activation Code". However, when you get to the signup forms for ProtectMyID, you put the code into the second page of the sign up form in the "Promotional Code" field.
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BA Investigating Theft of Personal and Financial Data

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Old Sep 8, 2018, 4:34 pm
  #676  
 
Join Date: Dec 2011
Location: BRS
Programs: BA Gold, Hilton Diamond
Posts: 4,993
Originally Posted by Furby
I just had to talk to them by phone on an issue I had with an upcoming flight (totally unrelated to the data theft issue), anyway I found it interesting that they asked me for my passport number and expiry date as authentication data, never been asked for that before.

They usually ask for the passport data if you have a booking from a travel agency.. Do you?
Schwann is offline  
Old Sep 8, 2018, 4:52 pm
  #677  
 
Join Date: Apr 2012
Location: STL
Programs: AA Lifetime Platinum
Posts: 504
No, directly through BA.com
Furby is offline  
Old Sep 8, 2018, 5:52 pm
  #678  
 
Join Date: Jan 2018
Location: Sapporo, Japan
Programs: Junior Jet Club, Nando's Card 1 Red Chilli, Tesco Clubcard, BAEC Gold, TK M&S Elite
Posts: 520
I was affected, First Direct asked me if I'd rather cancel or monitor my card on account of the fact that BA hadn't spoken to them yet. It's annoying because I live in Japan and have to get the card couriered here, but the bank are happy to do it at no cost to me.

Not that bothered about compensation, just happy no fraud was committed against me. I'll be more pissed off if there isn't transparency though. I want to know how it happened, who's fault it is and what remedial action will be taken. This isn't their UPS tripping out and causing incovenience, it's personal information being leaked.

Last edited by flyuk; Sep 9, 2018 at 12:36 am
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Old Sep 8, 2018, 8:16 pm
  #679  
LPQ
 
Join Date: Mar 2010
Location: Cheddar
Programs: TG *G 20 years
Posts: 406
I notice that the latest version of the announcement from BA has widened the affected to be not only those making bookings in the period at risk but also those, like me, making changes to bookings.
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Old Sep 8, 2018, 11:56 pm
  #680  
 
Join Date: Sep 2009
Location: Cambridgeshire
Programs: BA Gold, VS Gold, UA Silver, Marriott LTP, Hilton Diamond
Posts: 233
Originally Posted by Steph G.
I was able to change my password (I did have to use the Forgot Password link), can log in website but not on app (both iPad and iPhone).
@Steph G - Does the App now work for you ? I have the same issue 😢

thanks
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Old Sep 9, 2018, 12:55 am
  #681  
 
Join Date: Mar 2013
Location: UK
Posts: 47
Quite often when a data breach of this nature occurs in the USA, a retailer will offer the affected customers free identity fraud protection and credit monitoring for at least a year. I wonder if BA will be making similar amends? As one who had their data taken as part of the breach, I would be happy with this a compensatory gesture.
bookish is offline  
Old Sep 9, 2018, 1:05 am
  #682  
 
Join Date: May 2015
Location: London, UK
Programs: BA Silver
Posts: 83
Originally Posted by bookish
Quite often when a data breach of this nature occurs in the USA, a retailer will offer the affected customers free identity fraud protection and credit monitoring for at least a year. I wonder if BA will be making similar amends? As one who had their data taken as part of the breach, I would be happy with this a compensatory gesture.
I believe BA are offering this service to those affected customers that request it. In their most recent email to affected customers, BA stated:

Reimbursement Information

We’ll reimburse our customers who have suffered financial losses as a direct result of the theft of their payment card details. We’ll also offer credit rating monitoring, provided by specialists in the field, to any affected customer who is concerned about an impact to their credit rating.”
bookish likes this.
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Old Sep 9, 2018, 1:26 am
  #683  
 
Join Date: Sep 2012
Location: San Francisco
Programs: BA GGL, UA Gold, Marriott Titanium
Posts: 82
It’s not the havk itself that annoys me but the amateurish method of not encrypting any of the data.

Absolutely moronic decision from BA.

i’m on the road for a week and having to pay with my own credit card now. Obviously my company will not pay for the interest accrued on these purchases.

Like one other person on here, I got alerted that my details were used to try and open a netflix account the day the BA email was sent to us. Luckily Chase bank denied it.

Another loop in the downward spiral of BA.
Txubito is offline  
Old Sep 9, 2018, 1:35 am
  #684  
 
Join Date: Jan 2016
Location: LON
Programs: BAEC
Posts: 3,915
Originally Posted by Txubito
It’s not the havk itself that annoys me but the amateurish method of not encrypting any of the data.

The data was probably all encrypted whilst in transit, what has probably happened is that some unauthorised third party code managed to be injected into the BA website and was present in the booking process webpages, and this code was then looking at what was being typed into the website forms and the data was being siphoned off from your device - but before the encryption happened to send it across the internet occurred. If its any consolation (although I'm not certain of the specifics in the case), frequently the hackers that code up this stuff probably encrypted their data stream as well to "protect" their copy of your valuable data, and quite often the security and obsecurity the hackers use exceeds that of most of what is currently in common use.
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Old Sep 9, 2018, 2:04 am
  #685  
 
Join Date: Nov 2015
Location: London
Programs: BA Gold
Posts: 1,683
Originally Posted by JohnRobertJohn


Ha ha took me nearly 2 hours to get to the correct fraud team. I was being bounced around Natwest like a us open tennis ball and that was for one card. So imagine the conversation with the customer service team. You want to send money to where?
Do you have an account no- no I don’t.
Belive me if only was that simple.
Travel insurance usually has emergency cash facility.

I didn't read read the entire exchange so apologies if this is already covered. Been laughed at by friends over my multicard multibank approach previously. But it really is necessary to have alternate access to funds when travelling.
T8191, wrp96 and JayeJ like this.
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Old Sep 9, 2018, 2:40 am
  #686  
FlyerTalk Evangelist
 
Join Date: Mar 2010
Location: JER
Programs: BA Gold/OWE, several MUCCI, and assorted Pensions!
Posts: 32,145
dougzz ... agreed. Ilargely live on Amex, but fortunately also have a Visa card with a 5-digit limit. The latter gets used occasionally to keep it ‘alive’, as if it’s quiescent for more than 3 months they close the account!!
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Old Sep 9, 2018, 3:07 am
  #687  
 
Join Date: Sep 2014
Location: between MUC and NUE
Programs: BA Gold, LH Senator
Posts: 422
Originally Posted by plunet

The data was probably all encrypted whilst in transit, what has probably happened is that some unauthorised third party code managed to be injected into the BA website and was present in the booking process webpages, and this code was then looking at what was being typed into the website forms and the data was being siphoned off from your device - but before the encryption happened to send it across the internet occurred.
Stupid question: How could the hackers then get the stored credit card data?
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Old Sep 9, 2018, 3:22 am
  #688  
 
Join Date: Apr 2018
Location: London
Programs: Gold at BA, Hilton and Radisson.
Posts: 591
Originally Posted by Flip42
Stupid question: How could the hackers then get the stored credit card data?
They didn’t. They obtained the card details used to pay for something during the time period above. This is whether the card used came from stored details or not.

If you had two stored cards, let’s say A and B, if you paid with A then they have A’s details. B is still stored but they do not have those details
ScienceTeacher is offline  
Old Sep 9, 2018, 3:33 am
  #689  
 
Join Date: Sep 2005
Location: Scotland
Programs: # Neodymium #
Posts: 968
Originally Posted by ScienceTeacher


They didn’t. They obtained the card details used to pay for something during the time period above. This is whether the card used came from stored details or not.

If you had two stored cards, let’s say A and B, if you paid with A then they have A’s details. B is still stored but they do not have those details
I think Flip42 meant how could they access the stored card number if the hack method was effectively a keylogger and they could only access things you actually type in; and in the case of a stored card number, you by definition don't have to type the number in again, just the CVC.

I guess that means the hack wasn't a keylogging type of data capture, but something a bit more sophisticated that catches the credit card number during some point of transmission of data. The bit that I thought was supposed to be the encrypted part. Perhaps we'll get a more detailed explanation from BA in due course, although I suspect we'll never hear that level of detail.. unless it directly implicated a non-BA third party, and allows BA to completely deflect blame (and compensation!).
McCoy is offline  
Old Sep 9, 2018, 3:33 am
  #690  
 
Join Date: Oct 2014
Location: Malta
Programs: BAEC Bronze
Posts: 671
Originally Posted by scillyisles
Got the two emails the first with no text which looked like a typical phishing email - well done BA.
The second email came later which had text in it and seems to say I should contact my bank.
I am somewhat puzzled as I did not make a financial transaction during the period in question. I did log into BA.com via my normal BAEC account and via Onbusiness. The only transaction I tried to attempt was to cancel an Onbusiness booking but you cannot do this online so I had to phone in. At no time did I enter my card details although BA.com does store them online.
My reading of this is that the breach covers more than just the booking process where you pay for the flights and as such my guess is that more than 380,000 people may be affected.

Alex Cruz did appear on the Today programme just now and was not very impressive when interviewed. Alex did admit that email address, actual address had been compromised.

Exactly - I had the same email, but did not make bookings in that period. Do BA have any clue at all? I doubt it.
gypsyjaney is offline  


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