Why you shouldn’t throw away your boarding pass
You might want to think twice before throwing away your boarding pass.
Why? You’ll be amazed at what can be gleaned from the barcodes of an expired boarding pass.
Scammers and fraudsters can use the barcode to access your frequent flyer details, find out how much you paid for your airfare and obtain the last four digits of your credit card number.
“Two-dimensional barcodes and QR codes can hold a great deal of information, and the codes printed on airline boarding passes may allow someone to discover more about you, your future travel plans, and your frequent flyer account,” said cybersecurity journalist Brian Krebs.
Instead of chucking your pass in the bin, for peace of mind Krebs advises: “The next time you’re thinking of throwing away a used boarding pass with a barcode on it, consider tossing the boarding pass into a document shredder instead.”