Teen Steals $150,000 by Hacking Into Airline’s Website
A teenager hacked into an airline’s website, stealing sensitive information, and ripping off customers. (Photo: Thinkstock)
Most teenagers make money by flipping burgers at McDonalds.
This teen made money by defrauding travelers.
Police have arrested a 19-year-old man in Dalian, China after he was caught hacking into an airline’s website, stealing booking information from 1.6 million ticket orders, and ripping off hundreds of travelers.
When all was said and done, the teen whose surname is Zhang, made off with approximately 1.1 million Yuan ($150,000 USD).
Related: Your Boarding Pass Could Get You Hacked… Here’s How
Using the information he gathered, he would text customers and alert them that their flight was canceled. From there, he asked people to re-book flights, and pocketed the money customers spent on re-booking fees.
According to People’s Daily Online, the hacks happened between July 31 and August 20 of this year. The airline announced the breach on August 22nd after several fraud complaints from customers.
Officials also report that the hack caused the airline to lose 80,000 Yuan ($12,365 USD) from repaying customers. The airline was not identified.
The Guangzhou web police arrested Zhang on Nov. 11.
Currently, it’s not known what the charges will be.
WATCH: 5 Ways to Avoid Common Hotel Scams
Let Yahoo Travel inspire you every day. Hang out with us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest. Check out our original adventure travel series A Broad Abroad.
