The Ticket Is the End of the Fraud Chain
Redemption-time fraud controls catch airline loyalty fraud too late. By the time a fraud team sees an award booking, the account has already been compromised, and the value has already moved. The place to catch this is earlier, at login when account takeover is happening, not at ticket purchase.
How the Fraud Actually Works
An attacker who takes over a high-balance loyalty account wants cash. The stolen miles pass through a broker or gray-market reseller and come out the other side as a real ticket in a real passenger’s name. That passenger is usually an ordinary traveler who found a good fare. This is triangulation fraud with miles standing in for a stolen card: value taken from one account, laundered through an intermediary, delivered to a paying stranger.
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