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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 24, 2018, 1:31 pm
  #1171  
dsf
 
Join Date: May 2006
Location: Godalming, Surrey, UK.
Programs: Nowt of note.
Posts: 1,628
Originally Posted by plunet
Because it's not clear to me exactly what data was lost, despite what BA have said. At least this way I can get some clarity.
I don't expect you will be able to learn anything more than the emails they've already said, which have in fairness done a pretty good job of enumerating the data fields that were accessed. Since the nature of the hack was to steal data from the payment form, at least some of which is absolutely not held by BA (such as CVV, credit card number,etc - or so we hope), then it seems likely many of the values won't be present in any dump you receive.
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Old Sep 24, 2018, 1:36 pm
  #1172  
FlyerTalk Evangelist
 
Join Date: Mar 2010
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Posts: 32,145
(such as CVV, credit card number,etc - or so we hope)
I understood that it was exactly that data which was mined.
T8191 is online now  
Old Sep 24, 2018, 1:59 pm
  #1173  
Moderator, Iberia Airlines, Airport Lounges, and Ambassador, British Airways Executive Club
 
Join Date: Feb 2010
Programs: BA Lifetime Gold; Flying Blue Life Platinum; LH Sen.; Hilton Diamond; Kemal Kebabs Prized Customer
Posts: 63,807
Originally Posted by Cleasey
Anyone else had anything like this?
Just to welcome you to Flyertalk and welcome you to the BA forum Cleasey. I don't think I've seen any reports of this form of phishing yet recently, but thanks for putting on the radar screen. I have had to change 4 credit cards, and in the case of 1 card I'm on a second change and on another card I'm on card number 4 (the bank concerned reissues cards automatically as soon as it detects something odd). So that is 8 pieces of new plastic in just a few weeks, 21 attempts on my card in various forms, 11 phone calls from my credit card companies (I let them call me now rather than respond to their text messages) and various hassles with tickets for trains, hotel bookings, gigs, cinemas and rugby tickets. Plus reinserting my details all over again for regular merchants. But so far no phishing beyond my usual collection of Liberian ladies with highly unfortunate back stories. Welcome on board!
happeemonkee and HarryKUK like this.
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Old Sep 24, 2018, 2:03 pm
  #1174  
dsf
 
Join Date: May 2006
Location: Godalming, Surrey, UK.
Programs: Nowt of note.
Posts: 1,628
Originally Posted by T8191
I understood that it was exactly that data which was mined.
Yes, mine too. That's my point. This is data that BA do not permanently hold, or do not hold unencrypted, but it was siphoned off in-flight (no pun intended) from the payment form - therefore a GDPR data access request will not yield it.
T8191 and alpenlupe like this.
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Old Sep 24, 2018, 2:28 pm
  #1175  
 
Join Date: Sep 2009
Location: London
Posts: 189
As several of you mentioned, BA behaviour has not been the best considering the gravity of the situation. I'm hoping that internally this is being taken seriously and they do take actions to avoid anything similar to happen again. However, they don't seem to care at all about the ones that got caught on this situation. Providing access to Experian and that any future losses will be covered, seems more a way to say "here you go, now leave me alone". I'm not sure what could or should they have done, but they caused this situation and have not given me indication that they care. I, like several others, will likely be looking constantly at our transactions frequently and worry that at some point someone may decide to attempt to get a credit card, etc on my behalf. And for that reason, I've just added my name to the class suit. BA could have done things differently and be pro-active and care about their customers but, they didn't.
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Old Sep 24, 2018, 2:34 pm
  #1176  
 
Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: Switzerland
Posts: 1,591
Considering how simple and efficient the code was that extracted all these data, I wonder if BA would consider asking the data thieves to re-write the entire website.
danam, dsf, Tiger_lily and 7 others like this.
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Old Sep 24, 2018, 5:22 pm
  #1177  
 
Join Date: Jun 2018
Location: Brighton UK
Programs: BAEC-Silver, AMEX-BA Prem' Plus & Standard, Accor Gold, HH-Silver, IHG,IBIS On Business
Posts: 955
Originally Posted by simons1
Not exactly material, bearing in mind the bits in red are replaced with actual date and name and therefore not integral to the agreement.

While you are right about the words being replaced for it to exist is, imho, a clear sign of slackness on their part. Add on several sentences which read like a year 6 with poor language wrote them extends the point. I use modern vernaculars/ 'netspeak' regularly however in the case of a legally binding contract put together by a law firm there is, again imho, a reasonable expectation for them to put such a document together much better.

Like @uncleT and others I hold something of a low opinion of "ambulance chasers" and their ever creeping appearance within the British culture but support those who sign up as I also agree that at this point until BA get served some papers and are forced to actually deal with their own, highly preventable, f*** up they will just hope it all goes away.
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Old Sep 25, 2018, 12:22 am
  #1178  
 
Join Date: May 2013
Posts: 6,349
Originally Posted by TWCLAM
While you are right about the words being replaced for it to exist is, imho, a clear sign of slackness on their part. Add on several sentences which read like a year 6 with poor language wrote them extends the point. I use modern vernaculars/ 'netspeak' regularly however in the case of a legally binding contract put together by a law firm there is, again imho, a reasonable expectation for them to put such a document together much better.
Do you have legal credentials?
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Old Sep 25, 2018, 1:41 am
  #1179  
 
Join Date: Oct 2015
Location: Vale of Glamorgan
Programs: BAEC Gold
Posts: 2,991
This morning I had reason to call BA about an existing booking.

The lovely lady I spoke to asked me for the booking reference. And then the flight number, route and departure time. Then my name, full address and postcode, date of birth, email address, mobile phone number and BAEC membership number. Then my email address again.

I got the impression that she was struggling to think of a piece of personal information that had not potentially been lost in the data breach and that would positively identify me.

Misco60 is offline  
Old Sep 25, 2018, 1:43 am
  #1180  
 
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: Sheffield, UK
Programs: BA - Silver,Hilton-Diamond, IHG - PlatAmb, GHA - Plat
Posts: 766
The SPG thing to me is like the PPI Claim firms where they take 35% of any payment.

Why not wait a few months and do it yourself for free, via resolver etc...
atmorris is offline  
Old Sep 25, 2018, 3:14 am
  #1181  
formerly rxfleming
 
Join Date: Jan 2009
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Programs: BA GGL, HHonors Diamond, Marriott Plat Elite
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So, I've had my claim for £60 rejected by BA Customer Relations. This was the cost charged to me by Starling Bank to ship the card to me, abroad.
As BA say my address is in the UK, and my account is registered to a UK Address, "it is not reasonable that BA should accept liability for the shipment costs involved in issuing a card to a UK Resident overseas".

Lost for words. Truly.
travelwithross is offline  
Old Sep 25, 2018, 3:16 am
  #1182  
 
Join Date: Sep 2015
Location: Peterborough, UK
Programs: BA Silver; IHG Spire; Avis P+; Global Entry
Posts: 1,505
Originally Posted by travelwithross
So, I've had my claim for £60 rejected by BA Customer Relations. This was the cost charged to me by Starling Bank to ship the card to me, abroad.
As BA say my address is in the UK, and my account is registered to a UK Address, "it is not reasonable that BA should accept liability for the shipment costs involved in issuing a card to a UK Resident overseas".

Lost for words. Truly.
make an example MCOL
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aidy is offline  
Old Sep 25, 2018, 3:19 am
  #1183  
 
Join Date: Nov 2010
Posts: 5,596
Originally Posted by aidy
make an example MCOL
Agreed
rapidex is offline  
Old Sep 25, 2018, 3:25 am
  #1184  
 
Join Date: May 2006
Location: 5 miles from EMA
Programs: BD, BAEC Pleb, VS Pleb, Accor Pleb, HHonors Gold, Big White Season Pass
Posts: 5,904
Originally Posted by travelwithross
So, I've had my claim for £60 rejected by BA Customer Relations. This was the cost charged to me by Starling Bank to ship the card to me, abroad.
As BA say my address is in the UK, and my account is registered to a UK Address, "it is not reasonable that BA should accept liability for the shipment costs involved in issuing a card to a UK Resident overseas".

Lost for words. Truly.
Agreed about MCOL. The fact is that you’ve suffered material loss as a result of their actions. If you’d been abroad for months, how much inconvenience are you expected to bear?
Tiger_lily is offline  
Old Sep 25, 2018, 3:35 am
  #1185  
 
Join Date: Jan 2015
Location: Bangkok / London
Programs: BA Silver, AmEx Platinum, AVIS Presidents Club, Marriott Titanium Elite
Posts: 1,106
Originally Posted by travelwithross
So, I've had my claim for £60 rejected by BA Customer Relations. This was the cost charged to me by Starling Bank to ship the card to me, abroad.
As BA say my address is in the UK, and my account is registered to a UK Address, "it is not reasonable that BA should accept liability for the shipment costs involved in issuing a card to a UK Resident overseas".

Lost for words. Truly.
Wow. Quite a step back from “no one will be out of pocket.”

I need a card that was caught up in this sending to Bangkok as I’m resident here at the moment (but also have an address in the UK where my BAEC is). I won’t be paying for the shipping costs of the card. It’s things like this that will be pushing me to join the class action mentioned above.
HarryKUK is offline  


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