New Delhi: If you fly frequently with Air India and are unable to redeem miles, it is possible that hackers have taken a bite out of your reward points.
Delhi Police's cyber experts are probing a scam in Air India's flying-returns scheme in which a passenger can earn loyalty points by travelling with the national carrier and later redeem them. The more one flies, the more the returns.
A First Information Report (FIR) has been filed against unknown people after Air India's vigilance department detected a racket using high-tech means to steal frequent-flyer miles.
According to an internal probe, a gang generated 20 email ids and diverted reward points earned by passengers, with possible help from some airline employees. The months-long investigation revealed about 170 tickets were purchased by unfair means using driving licences as proof while many of them had the same signature, said Dhananjay Kumar, a senior manager with the national carrier.
He said as boarding passes were issued directly in these instances and driving licences are not considered valid proof, the likelihood of insider involvement is strong.
Tickets worth almost Rs 16 lakh have been sold on the basis of the stolen miles, say sources, adding that the probe may have merely scratched the surface as almost 20 lakh passengers are beneficiaries of AI's flyingreturns programme.
23/06/16 Ankur Sharma/Business Today
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Delhi Police's cyber experts are probing a scam in Air India's flying-returns scheme in which a passenger can earn loyalty points by travelling with the national carrier and later redeem them. The more one flies, the more the returns.
A First Information Report (FIR) has been filed against unknown people after Air India's vigilance department detected a racket using high-tech means to steal frequent-flyer miles.
According to an internal probe, a gang generated 20 email ids and diverted reward points earned by passengers, with possible help from some airline employees. The months-long investigation revealed about 170 tickets were purchased by unfair means using driving licences as proof while many of them had the same signature, said Dhananjay Kumar, a senior manager with the national carrier.
He said as boarding passes were issued directly in these instances and driving licences are not considered valid proof, the likelihood of insider involvement is strong.
Tickets worth almost Rs 16 lakh have been sold on the basis of the stolen miles, say sources, adding that the probe may have merely scratched the surface as almost 20 lakh passengers are beneficiaries of AI's flyingreturns programme.
23/06/16 Ankur Sharma/Business Today
