Chinese teen makes Ұ1m from hacking into airline’s website and charging ticket-holders fake rebooking fee
Suspect gained access to personal details of customers and sent text messages saying plane was out of order and they had to pay for new seat
A teenager is suspected of hacking into an airline’s ticketing website over the summer and making more than one million yuan by tricking customers into paying extra fees, Chinese media reports.
The 19-year-old man allegedly gained access to information on more than 1.6 million ticket orders, according to the New Express.
The attack gave him the personal details of hundreds of ticket-holders, including their phone numbers, ID card numbers and email addresses, the report quoted Guangzhou provincial police as saying.
He sent out groups texts, telling them the “the plane is out of order and the flight is cancelled”. They needed to pay extra fees if they wanted to rebook.
The airline lost more than 80,000 yuan (US$12,400 or HK$96,110) from people demanding a refund.
The hack lasted from July 31 to August 20, and the report didn’t identify the affected airline.
“The suspect coded the hacking software himself,” a police officer said.
He said the attack wasn’t highly sophisticated and was largely the result of a loophole in the company’s computer system that made it an easy target.
The suspect was arrested in Dalian city in November.
