Hackers on the dark web have initiated a notoriously innovative travel scam that rips travelers off their travel points which can be used to book new flights, rent hotel rooms or cars in any location.
As identified by Liv Rowley, an intelligence analyst for Flashpoint, frequent traveler reward points are being abused by a group of hackers.
Usually, it is always a tough journey for the average internet user to venture into the dark web because of the risk associated with it. Besides, they have to use anonymity tools such as Tor and other proxy networks in order to hide their IP address before browsing the markets.
The people who often find new ways to sell stolen items in this space have set up a new store on dark web.
Surprisingly, it is a travel agency which has been actively selling airline tickets, hotel rooms and car rentals. The big selling point in here is that these agencies claim that they can help you travel anywhere in the world at the lowest rates. For most people who often dream of visiting a different country, this may sound like a great deal.
Sharing her experience prowling through the dark web, Rowley said in a blog post that she discovered how these cyber criminals manage to steal points from unsuspecting victims. There are many software tools that they make use of. She has also confirmed that nabbing points from multiple customers and different reward programs is no easy task, which is why it's plausible that an entire team is at work in order to make the fraud campaign possible.
Rowley's revelations are what promoted travel scam alerts to be issued to consumers this month. It's beneficial to be aware that these types of scams do happen in the real world on the least suspecting people.
The scammer will choose to steal the reward points that you might have accrued through months or even years, and the worth will be much higher if you spend a lot of time traveling to different destinations. The acquired points will later be sold to a fraudulent travel agent online who will make use of the points to get credits in a particular hotel or some other travel setup.
The dark web travel scam seems to be very prevalent and has its own rating system, which stands proof to the fact that whoever is behind the fraud campaign might have been doing this for a very long time.
People who are interested in buying these points can review the feedback and ratings provided by other customers to determine the quality of the services.
Lots of people who are frequent flyers regularly accrue points in their account. As such, they may never know they have lost all their points until they check it at some point. Unlike credit card or banking fraud, this kind of theft may or may not be taken seriously by law enforcement. This provides the dark web scammers with an advantage. Plus, the average person who lost their points may not take the time to register a complaint.
In her report, Rowley noted that the best way to defend yourself against such an attack is to create a strong password and sign up for alerts to be issued whenever your points are used.
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