The cause and extent of the issue weren’t immediately known, causing some to worry that their boarding passes would stop working, that their identifying data could be stolen or that their reward points could be spent. Qantas made very brief statements at 9am acknowledging the issue and at 10.15am suggesting users log out, and warning against social media scams.

Throughout the issue, many users on X posting about Qantas received multiple replies from automated accounts pretending to be Qantas customer service, asking for the customers to send their personal information via DM. Follow-up phishing attempts, for example, offering customers compensation for the issue, are likely in the coming days.

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Similar issues have occurred in other apps before, including those belonging to banks, Mercedes-Benz and US telco T-Mobile. Generally, such glitches are the result of incorrectly configured technology upgrades on the company’s end and are fixed quickly once discovered, but they can have lasting impacts.

Given the data that was exposed, which included names, frequent flyer details and boarding pass QR codes, Qantas may need to reissue boarding passes for any flights over the next 24 hours, which could create problems at departure gates. It will also need to investigate any potential interference with customers’ accounts from those who had unintended access. Longer term, scammers could use captured details to impersonate Qantas and craft scam messages.

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