Hackers obtained the credit card details of some 380,000 British Airways travelers during a two-week data breach this summer that leaves the customers vulnerable to financial fraud, the airline says. BA's CEO, Alex Cruz, said Friday that enough data was stolen to allow criminals to use credit card information for illicit purposes, and that police are investigating.
"We know that the information that has been stolen is name, address, email address, credit card information; that would be credit card number, expiration date and the three-letter code in the back of the credit card," he told the BBC. He added that no passport data had been obtained in what he called a "very sophisticated, malicious criminal attack," but that British Airways is "100 percent committed" to compensating customers.
Consumer advice website MoneySavingExpert says customers who were swept up in the data breach should first seek advice from their bank, then monitor bank and credit card statements closely for signs of possible fraudulent activity. It also warns of possible "phishing scams" in which hackers would try to trick affected consumers into revealing personal information like pincodes or banking passwords.
