Who leaked passenger information due to frequent flight fraud during peak travel hours?

Since the beginning of this year, with the increasing frequency of people's business, family visits, and tourism, fraud related to "ticket refunds and visa changes" has reappeared in the Jianghu, and various complaints have also shown a rapid growth trend. According to media reports, some passengers experienced information fraud such as "refund and visa change" before takeoff before and after the Golden Week of the 11th

Since the beginning of this year, with the increasing frequency of people's business, family visits, and tourism, fraud related to "ticket refunds and visa changes" has reappeared in the Jianghu, and various complaints have also shown a rapid growth trend. According to media reports, some passengers experienced information fraud such as "refund and visa change" before takeoff before and after the Golden Week of the 11th. Relevant departments and media have also reiterated their call for strengthening information protection and reminding passengers to be careful to prevent fraud.

Can you believe the phone number for returning or changing your visa before traveling?

Recently, during the peak holiday travel season, some passengers have ordered round-trip tickets online and received text messages such as "flight cancellation" before departure, prompting them to claim compensation in the payment software. However, when the passengers who believed it to be true followed the "customer service" requirements to download the designated app, open screen sharing, and remotely listen to the "customer service" requirements, they found that all the deposits in the card were cleared.

According to media reports, on the eve of the National Day holiday, some passengers even suffered losses of over two million yuan due to fraud related to "refund and visa change". The Anti Fraud Center also continues to issue warnings to remind consumers to pay attention to such scams.

Is this type of scam only appearing this year? Industry insiders told reporters that fraud related to "refund and visa change" has been popular for at least ten years, but as the number of passengers traveling by plane increases, it has also led to more passengers being scammed. This type of scam captures the tense psychology of passengers' itinerary changes before travel, coupled with temptations such as refunds and compensation. In addition, the complex operation process makes passengers easily deceived.

Therefore, industry insiders suggest that passengers should first remain calm when receiving relevant phone calls, especially when informed of compensation payments, which can be considered as a scam. They must not follow the other party's requirements for screen sharing assistance, or enter their bank card account, password, verification code, and other important information related to property security at will. Flight information should be queried through official channels, such as airlines and OTA official websites.

Who leaked my information?

Due to the precise sending of "return and change of visa" messages in this type of fraud, "customer service" seems to be able to predict and accurately report passenger names and identification information, which has also led to many passengers complaining afterwards, accusing the airline or OTA that purchased the ticket of leaking travel information.

Which link is the problem? According to civil aviation experts, the booking process for air tickets is cumbersome and involves many parties, including OTAs, airlines, agents that passengers can access, as well as intermediaries and terminal systems such as China Airlines and operators. Any link may have the risk of data leakage.

OTA has previously introduced that it has passed international certified security standards and user information is in an encrypted state. The personal information circulation links of civil aviation passengers are very long, and even insurance companies, car rental platforms, etc. are involved. Therefore, regulatory authorities need to increase their efforts to investigate and crack down on information trafficking, and jointly strengthen user information security protection.

An industry insider who has worked on tourism websites for many years has also pointed out that large companies do not need to disclose user information, and companies will not rely on this method to obtain "small profits". Because large companies place great importance on their own brand and reputation, after all, such events can have a negative impact on the company's brand.

The civil aviation expert also stated that ticket purchases on large platforms are most secure due to their well-established information security mechanisms, while adding so-called ticket agents to platforms such as Xiaohongshu and WeChat to purchase tickets poses a higher risk of fraud.

When can the fraud of 'returning and changing signatures' stop

The endless scams have turned the joy of travelers' travel into the frustration of financial losses, and the public is also concerned about when the scams against air tickets can end.

According to industry experts, "changing signatures" information fraud is also a type of telecommunications fraud, and in recent years, telecommunications fraud cases have indeed been common. At present, high-risk areas of fraud include multiple industries such as finance, retail, automotive, internet, logistics, e-commerce, etc. Due to the continuous recovery of tourism this year, the travel sector has also been given special attention by scammers.

According to public data, a total of 460000 telecommunications network fraud cases were cracked nationwide in 2022. The public security has also invested a lot of effort in case investigation and anti fraud science popularization. This week, hundreds of suspects of North Myanmar power fraud were transferred to China and also made a hot search on Weibo.

The industry has always been exploring better solutions for this type of fraud. According to public information, in 2016, the Civil Aviation Administration of China issued a notice on further strengthening the promotion of ticketing service reminder notifications, requiring airlines to prominently publish warning messages on their official websites to prevent SMS fraud. After passengers successfully purchase tickets through channels such as the company's official website, internet ticket sales platforms, and mobile apps, they should promptly push warning messages to prevent fraud in the form of SMS.

A person in charge of OTA information security in the industry also stated that the company strictly follows the requirements of the Personal Information Protection Law and the Data Security Law for order information access and external transmission. At the same time, it also conducts annual security assessments on third-party suppliers to ensure their overall security level.

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