Hong Kong Airlines reports breach, warns over scam calls
Thestandard · 4 SOURCESabout 2 hours ago2 MIN
Summary
Hong Kong Airlines said it has reported the case to police after receiving reports that someone was impersonating company staff in calls to customers, following a personal data leak involving 815 passengers departing between September 29 and October 22. The airline said it has also notified the Office of the Privacy Commissioner for Personal Data and hired an independent cybersecurity consultant to determine the cause, with the work still under way. The commissioner said it received notifications from Hong Kong Airlines on October 2, Yoho Hong Kong on October 5, and Broadway Photo Supply on October 26, indicating three separate corporate data leak cases disclosed this month. Separately, Japan Airlines said unauthorized access at a contractor handling its reservation system may have exposed about 92,000 customers' data, including passport numbers and nationality details for around 2,000 people.
Key Points
- The Privacy Commissioner said Hong Kong Airlines notified it on October 2, Yoho Hong Kong on October 5, and Broadway Photo Supply on October 26
- Hong Kong Airlines said 815 passengers departing between September 29 and October 22 were affected in the leak, according to preliminary information
- The exposed Hong Kong Airlines data included names, phone numbers, flight dates, flight numbers and routes, the commissioner said
- The airline said it only contacts customers through official phone numbers and urged them not to verify matters through suspicious numbers or links
- In Japan, JAL said contractor-linked unauthorized access may have exposed about 92,000 customers, with roughly 2,000 involving passport numbers and nationality.
Why It Matters
For Hong Kong travellers, the immediate risk is not only the leak itself but follow-up fraud using real itinerary details to make scam calls sound convincing. The parallel JAL case shows that airlines and their contractors can both become points of failure, raising concern for passengers who routinely share passport and contact data when booking flights.