Help, I’m Flying High and Dry!

Hi Scott, 

I just got an email saying I’ve been caught up in the Qantas hack. I checked my points straightaway, and thankfully they’re still there. And I changed my password. But I’m freaking out that my personal details have leaked. I use the same login for heaps of sites (because, let’s be honest, I’m a mum and can’t remember a million passwords). Do I need to change my name and start my life over?! 

Emily

Hey Emily,

You, me, and six million others got hit (we’re all in the same jumbo, I’m afraid).

I checked my Frequent Flyer points and nearly fainted when I saw all them all gone … then I realised my wife had stolen them for her girls’ trip overseas for her 40th later in the year. (True story!)

Now Qantas has said that no passwords, credit card details or passport information was compromised.

Yet you’re still right to worry. 

Your name, email, phone number, date of birth and frequent flyer numbers are now in the hands of crooks. And they can build on these details and use your leaked details to apply for credit in your name, and you wouldn’t even know until debt collectors come knocking.

In the US, people can freeze their credit file, which slams the door on scammers. I’ve long argued we should have the same here. But our credit bureaus, who keep files on all of us, make hundreds of millions selling our data to banks, so they’ve got zero interest in letting us lock it down. (And they’ve got first-class lobbyists making sure Barefoot economy-class blokes like me aren’t heard from the cockpit in Canberra.)

So, for now, change all your passwords (use a password manager – the Apple one is decent), and check your credit report at least once a year (you can get a copy of your credit report free, every three months, by writing to each credit agency – Experian, Equifax and illion).

Oh, and there’s no need to change your name, unless you’re changing it to Alan Joyce, which gets you an automatic upgrade to the pointy end of the plane.

Scott