British Airways suspending Executive Club accounts after suspected hacking attack

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I had a tweet on Friday from a HfP reader who suddenly found himself locked out of his British Airways Executive Club account. The call centre were not willing to enlighten him further.

Over the weekend, more details have trickled out.

This email from British Airways was posted by a user at Flyertalk:

Dear Customer

British Airways has become aware of some unauthorised activity in relation to your Executive Club account.

This appears to have been the result of a third party using information obtained elsewhere on the internet, via an automated process, to try to gain access to your Executive Club account.

We understand this was login information relating to a different online service which you may have also used to access your Executive Club account.

We would like to reassure you that, although it does appear that the login attempt was successful, at this stage we are not aware of any access to any subsequent information pages within your account, including your flight history or payment card details.

We have now locked down your online account to protect it from further access. As part of the lock-down process we have also changed your password and you will need to reset it before you are able to use your account.

If you use the same login details for your Executive Club account as you do for your online accounts with any other organisations, we would also recommend that you change the passwords for these accounts, as well as exercising vigilance regarding any unusual or suspicious use of your personal data.

For a short period of time, as a precaution, we have also suspended the use of Avios on your account. We will let you know when this suspension period is over.

In the meantime, however, if you wish to spend your Avios please contact us via your local Executive Club service centre. We will be able to reactivate your account by asking you some additional security questions.

We are sorry for the concern and inconvenience this matter may have caused you and would like to reassure you that we are taking this incident seriously.

British Airways Executive Club team

It is not clear what the ‘online service’ is that he is meant to have used which has led to his account being compromised. It seems that it is NOT AwardWallet which would be the obvious suspect because it is the biggest of the online account management apps. None of the four people on Flyertalk who received this email report having shared their details with ANY third party apps.

It seems that fraudulent use of accounts is linked to both hotel bookings with Avios and flights. Russia appears to be a common thread among the flight routes and hotel guest names. This sort of behaviour is hugely risky of course since it relies on the account holder not noticing that his account balance has dropped. (This is why it would be stupid to hack AwardWallet, since you would be alerted as soon as your balance moved!)

One Flyertalk poster even found that the name on his BA account had been changed – heaven knows how that was done.

The moral of this story is to keep an eye on your balances – ironically, this may involve giving your details to a service like AwardWallet – and treat account security in the same way you would treat bank account security (which, in some ways, it is).

How to earn Avios points from UK credit cards

How to earn Avios from UK credit cards (December 2021)

As a reminder, there are various ways of earning Avios points from UK credit cards. Many cards also have generous sign-up bonuses!

There are two official British Airways American Express cards with attractive sign-up bonuses:

British Airways BA Amex American Express card

British Airways American Express

5,000 Avios for signing up, no annual fee and an Economy 2-4-1 voucher for spending ….. Read our full review

British Airways BA Premium Plus American Express Amex credit card

British Airways American Express Premium Plus

25,000 Avios and the UK’s most valuable credit card perk – the 2-4-1 companion voucher Read our full review

You can also get generous sign-up bonuses by applying for American Express cards which earn Membership Rewards points, such as:

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold

Your best beginner’s card – 20,000 points, FREE for a year & two airport lounge passes Read our full review

The Platinum Card from American Express

30,000 points and an unbeatable set of travel benefits – for a fee Read our full review

Run your own business?

We recommend Capital On Tap for limited companies. You earn 1 Avios per £1 which is impressive for a Visa card, along with a sign-up bonus worth 10,500 Avios:

Capital On Tap Business Rewards Visa

The most generous Avios Visa or Mastercard for a limited company Read our full review

You should also consider the British Airways Accelerating Business credit card. This is open to sole traders as well as limited companies and has a 30,000 Avios sign-up bonus: