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Why you shouldn't post photos of your boarding pass online

We all know that one person who always checks-in on Facebook, Instagram or Snapchat with a picture of their boarding pass right before they're about to take off.

If that sounds like you, then you may want to read this as it turns out that you could be putting yourself at serious risk with the seemingly innocent post.

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On Instagram alone, more than 75,000 people have used the #boardingpass, with clear pictures of their name, seat, number and destination.

While they make for pretty photos, posting snaps of your boarding pass online can be dangerous.
While they make for pretty photos, posting snaps of your boarding pass online can be dangerous.

However you could be giving away much more information with the social media post.

The founder of flight rewards management program iFLYflat, Steve Hui, wrote a post for news.com.au in which he examined a boarding pass photo posted by an Australian Virgin Australia passenger and here's what he found.

Steve took the E-Ticket number, booking reference and frequent flyer number and went online to the 'Manage My Booking' button on Virgin Australia's website.

By using just this information, he was able to log into the online portal and see all of the passenger's information, from their seat number to what type of meal they had requested to their itinerary details.

He was also able to see when the person booked the flight, a breakdown of the cost and even the last four digits of the passenger's credit card.

People would be able to change your seat number, your personal details and even your actual flight if they wanted to.

And while some people think they are being safe by covering their name or flight number, many still leave the barcode visible, which actually contains all the information from the boarding pass.

In one case, Steve was able to uncover all the passenger's details just from scanning their barcode into an easily downloadable reader.

"Accessing all this information is a lot easier than you may have thought, and there is a great risk associated with publishing uncensored images of boarding passes," he said.

"Not only can these details be used for identity theft purposes, but you can suffer major financial loss if someone were to use this method to take control of a frequent flyer account."

Maybe next time you feel the urge to take a picture of your boarding pass, take a snap of you're delicious coffee or a selfie instead.

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