AUSTIN -- Anna Culina just wanted to check her miles on United Airline's mobile website, but instead, she ended up with a whole lot more.
“I was navigating around activity and statements, and each time I navigated around to a different area, I pulled up someone else's information,” Culina said.
Culina found the personal information of 20 United Airlines customers she'd never even met. Their names, Mileage Plus numbers, future flight itineraries with confirmation codes, and previous trips were all at her fingertips.
“I contacted United and they told me maybe someone had logged onto my phone and not logged off properly. But nobody has used my phone, let alone 20 different people I didn't know,” Culina said.
“In the wrong person's hands that knows what it is they have access to, they can do a lot of damage very quickly,” CEO of ID Theft Solutions of America Jason Lavender said.
Lavender says that information could be just enough to cause someone big problems.
“That’s the biggest concern," Lavender said. "These identity thieves know exactly what they're doing, and they actually only need one form of identity to access all the other ones you need and then you can use any component to acquire accounts, other airlines, airline tickets.”
Lavender says more often than not, identity thieves gain information from businesses, not from individuals. So the best thing you can do is be prepared.
“It's not as much us worrying about what we're carrying in our purses or wallets, as it is the information that we're giving to these people that we do business with,” Lavender said.
Culina says that if she saw this information, she worries how many people saw hers.
A United Airlines spokesperson said they're looking into the specific issue and expect to resolve it quickly, but that Culina “didn't have access to sensitive personal information.”
Culina says by using the confirmation code and traveler's last name, she could have changed the passenger's seating assignments or even canceled a flight.
For tips on how to protect yourself from identity theft, click here.
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