This should go without saying – you need to protect your loyalty program accounts. I should know better, but I guess I don’t since my HawaiianMiles account was compromised.
Actually, my HawaiianMiles account has one of my better passwords. So, the fact that it got hacked was a surprise to me. But, nothing is ever failsafe. There are, however, things you can do to protect yourself and/or mitigate issues.
What Happened
Recently, I received a call from Hawaiian Airlines. The reason for their call was suspected fraudulent activity. Specifically, the rep told me that I had made an unauthorized mileage transfer from someone else’s account and made a suspicious award booking. Of course, they didn’t actually think it was me, and that’s why they were calling. And, sure enough, when I logged into my account, I saw all kinds of funny business and a stranger’s profile in my account. That includes my account being nearly emptied of miles.
Luckily, once Hawaiian reached out to me, things got taken care of quickly. They had an idea of what was legitimate and what wasn’t, but they needed to confirm with me. I also needed to have my login credentials change, which is exactly what we did. But, once all that was done, it was a few days until all of the fraudulent activity was reversed and my account made whole again.
What You Can Do
I’m grateful that Hawaiian was proactive in reaching out to me and took care of things quickly. But there are things that can be done to protect yourself. First and foremost is proper password management.
Passwords
This should be a no-brainer nowadays, but you want to make sure that you use complex passwords on your accounts. That means using a mix of upper case and lower case letters, numbers, and special characters. Beyond this, though, it’s a good idea to use a different password for each and every one of your accounts. Yep, that’s hard to do and I definitely did not do that before. But, now, I’ve begun to diversify my passwords. It’s probably even a good idea to periodically change your passwords which, I know, is even harder.
Vary Your Security Questions
Similar to your passwords, you’ll want to vary your security questions and answers if you can. That means either choosing different questions and/or varying your answers.
Monitor Your Account
Something else I should’ve done was to actively monitor my HawaiianMiles account. Admittedly, it’s been months since I last looked at this account and a few others. After all, lately, I’ve been doing all of my flying with Alaska Airlines and Southwest Airlines. But, had I actively monitored my account, I could’ve caught things earlier. Yes, I got all my miles back, but I wouldn’t count on that always being the case.
Protect Your Loyalty Program Accounts, Final Thoughts
Getting hacked is never a fun experience. But, I gotta give Hawaiian props where props are due. Kanani in HawaiianMiles at their HQ is a joy to work with, is extremely prompt, and embodies the spirit of Aloha. My only complaint is that I got two separate calls from Hawaiian’s Philippines call center about the same issue because Hawaiian uses two different systems that don’t seem to necessarily update one another in a timely matter, if at all. And as embarrassing as this situation is for me, it’s a great reminder for me to pay more attention to my account security.