Beware: Posting those photos online can lead to identity theft

When travelling by plane, we must never forget two key documents - a passport or ID card and a boarding pass. Without them, we won’t be able to pass through airport security, shop, or board the plane. The boarding pass includes our personal information, flight details, and seat number, making it very important to keep it with you.

Excited travellers often want to share their trip on social media. However, they do not realise that posting this document can bring them a lot of misfortune. After all, the boarding pass includes our personal data, destination, and seat number. It also contains a QR code that unauthorised persons can exploit.

The inconspicuous code on the boarding pass contains sensitive data, which is visible once airport staff scans it. When the staff at check-in scans the QR code, they see the passport number, payment details for the trip, and the card number used to pay for the flight.

It may seem that only airport computers can read the data from the boarding pass, but the truth is different. Dozens of online barcode readers provide information based on a submitted photo. Access to all this information is much easier than it might seem, but posting uncensored images of boarding passes carries significant risk.

Steve Hui, a travel expert, demonstrated the results of an experiment on Instagram. He showed how easy it is to exploit a photo of a boarding pass shared on social media. All it took was to scan the QR code from someone's image to gain access to the travel details and even the person's credit card information.

This data can not only be used for identity theft but also cause severe financial losses if someone uses this method to take control of the traveller’s account. By sharing boarding pass data, we risk someone seizing our reservation. Without additional security measures, a scammer can cancel our flight, change travel dates, and even seat another passenger in our place.