After 50 years in the aviation industry I am amazed at how much I don’t know.
Recently I received info on “Loyalty Fraud”. I didn’t know what loyalty fraud was, but—thanks to Jeff Wixted, VP, Marketing & Client Solutions, Accertify, I now know that loyalty customers come back. One thing that motivates them to come back is the “free” airline miles earned by you and stored by your airline.
Loyalty fraud is the theft of free miles stolen by thieves. How important is this? The travel industry is the second most-targeted sector for cyber attackers.
Basically, airline customers can use free miles for free future trips. That is one of the great marketing successes in the country, and I remember when it started.
This money is at $100 billion per year. That’s a chunk of change where I grew up!
Some (many?) customers seldom check the status of their accounts. This makes it difficult for the airline fraud management teams. To cite Mr. Wixted, “Airlines are faced with a difficult task—the need to quickly and easily identify account takeovers without creating a negative experience for legitimate customers.”
(Back when I was traveling all over, earning free miles, it was wonderful. Wife Gail and I ran our small business. The free miles were important to us, and Gail kept our free-miles account up to date. I flew Delta for over a million miles and they sent me a Hartmann suitcase. I remember when there were no free miles and pax could smoke on the airline).
Today’s thieves use many techniques to get into the traveler’s account, but the airlines have computers also. It’s a big battle back and forth.
The fraudsters have a gazillion ways to enter the customers’ stored accounts, but we will not explain the methods themselves (besides, I don’t understand them anyway).
When the fraudsters get into someone’s account they might manage to steal a bunch of free miles. Some are sold (I wonder if the buyers are also fraudulent), some miles are traded, and some are used. Add it all up and it costs the airlines, the passengers, and the airports.
But I can help by urging you to contact…
Mr. Jeff Wixted, VP, Marketing & Client Solutions, Accertify
Office phone number—630.735.4479; Email—[email protected]
Please send comments to [email protected]
About the Author
Ralph HoodRalph Hood
Certified Speaking Professional
Ralph Hood is a Certified Speaking Professional who has addressed aviation groups throughout North America. A pilot since 1969, he's insured and sold airplanes at retail and distributor levels and taught aviation management for Southern Illinois University.
Ralph Hood is also an award-winning columnist (he writes for several publications), a salesman and sales manager (he sold airplanes, for crying out loud!), a teacher (he taught college-level aviation management) and a professional public speaker who has entertained and enlightened audiences from Hawaii to Spain, and from Fairbanks to Puerto Rico.
- Certified Speaking Professional (CSP), National Speakers Association
- Past member, National Ethics Committee, National Speakers Association
- Past president of Alabama Speakers Association
- Member, Alabama Aviation Hall of Fame
- Past National Marketing Mentor, AOPA Project Pilot
