Scammers hack Air NZ for personal details

A Timaru man was called by scammers who have hacked into the Air New Zealand computer system and gathered personal details.

On Thursday Mark Miron received a phone call about a credit regarding Air New Zealand flights.

As soon as he was asked for personal details he hung up and called Air New Zealand.

‘‘They said they were aware of a scam being run and a warning was on their website.

‘‘They also

said

their fraud people had been working to said.

He had been in Melbourne last week and was going to the Gold Coast in October so did not know from which booking the information had been obtained, but had noticed the caller ID showed a New Zealand number.

Air New Zealand spokeswoman Brigitte Ransom said the airline had been contacted by people who had received auto mated phone calls claiming to be from Air New Zealand offering ‘‘significant credits’’ to be redeemed on bookings.

‘‘We fly 13 million customers each year and these fraudsters are relying on the fact that many New Zealanders will recall

fix

it,’’ Miron a recent journey in order to attempt to establish a rapport and convince them the call is genuine,’’ she said.

Air New Zealand did not use automated calling systems, she said.

The airline was limited in what it could do to prevent fraudsters using the company’s name.

It had notified the Department of Consumer Affairs, its customers through social media and its 11,000 staff to warn them of the scam, Ransom said.

Air New Zealand advised customers not to provide any personal details and hang up immediately if they received a phone call from an automated system claiming to be from Air New Zealand.