This Wednesday, August 6, 2025, the airline Air France-KLM announced that it had been the victim of a “data violation”. Among the compromised information, there are personal customer data. Here is what cybercriminals could potentially do with this information.
After Bouygues Telecom, hit by a data leak on August 6, 2025, it is the turn of another group from the CAC 40 to be faced with this type of incident.
This time, the flaw comes from an external service provider responsible for customer relations. In any case, it is the customers of the Air France-KLM group who directly undergo the consequences of this data violation, which concerns airlines.
In a press release addressed to the press on August 7, Air France claims that the breach has now been clogged, that the incident has been declared to the competent authorities and that measures have been taken ” in order to prevent this from happening again ». The group wants to be reassuring: no banking data or any official travel document, such as passports, are affected by the incident. The affected customers were informed by email and have received the list of potentially compromised data types.
Your data deserve to be better protected.
Sociations, viruses and ransomware are no longer inevitable. Protect your privacy and personal data with Bitdefender and enjoy your digital life with confidence.
These include first names, surnames, contact contact details, Flying Blue’s numbers and statutes, as well as objects of the requests made by Email.
Data which, if they may seem harmless, actually constitute a precious pool for future attempts at online scams.
Resources for targeted phishing campaigns
To become aware of the risk incurred, it is common in cybersecurity to encourage the “adversarial thinking”, that is to say the ability to put itself in the shoes of a cybercriminal. It is this approach that gives awareness of the value that these leaked personal data can take.
The main danger for the victims is then to be the target of very targeted phishing campaigns, led by email, telephone or SMS, where the attacker manages to establish a climate of trust.
The Touching Air France-KLM flaw perfectly illustrates these risks: having the first name, name, the Flying Blue number or the latest requests made to the company allows fraudsters to personalize their attacks and lower the vigilance of their interlocutors.
The final objective remains, most often, to encourage the victim to disclose even more sensitive information: bank details, passport copy, etc. This is how banking fraud or identity theft can occur, with potentially major consequences.
How not to fall into the trap?
If you are victims of fraudulent calls or sms following this leak, there are many tips to have in mind so as not to risk a major scam:
- Systematically check the email address or telephone number of the person who contacts you.
- Never send your bank details or personal via an online form sent by SMS or email.
- If in doubt during a call, hang up and contact Air France KLM customer service directly via the usual channels.
- Report any phishing attempt by on the “Signal spam” platform.
- Report any fraudulent SMS at 33700, a service recommended by the CNIL which allows you to list the malicious numbers. A video tutorial can be found on our YouTube channel.
All tech news in the blink of an eye
Add Numerama to your home screen and stay connected to the future!
