Stranger uses clever hack to cancel woman’s Southwest Airlines trip. Then used her flight credit to fly himself to Orlando: ‘what’s going on’

TikToker Papilove (@papilove13) is claiming her Southwest Airlines account was recently compromised, leading her to start a persistent social media campaign to demand a refund and accountability. She is now posting a video daily, in order to tag the airline until they provide her with the money she says was lost, as well as to share her stories. We haven’t been able to verify any of her claims, but she has been very vocal about her experience on TikTok.

In a recent video, she laid out her situation for her viewers, stating, “Hey Southwest. Another day, another video. I will stop making videos once you give me my refund. Like that’s all that I’m asking for.” Papilove went on to claim that a specific individual has been hacking into customer accounts by finding usernames and passwords, canceling flights, and transferring the resulting travel credit into his own name. 

According to Papilove, this allowed the individual to use her money to fly from Dallas to Orlando on August 26. She alleged, “He canceled my family of four and use our money. I had to repurchase my tickets, repay for them and now southwest is telling me, well, the money’s already gone. He’s already used it, he’s already flown. There’s no money there to reimburse you with, uh, which is a problem.”

A consistent pattern of failure

The TikToker is pushing for better security measures, specifically calling for two-factor authentication to increase security beyond passwords and help prevent unauthorized access. Papilove challenged Southwest, saying, “You guys need to figure out what’s going on and how he’s so easily able to hack into your account, your Southwest app or whatever and get into so many people’s accounts.” 

She also expressed concern about how the process is even possible, questioning, “Do you have an issue with a worker giving this to him?” While she admitted she does not believe the individual works for the airline, she suggested, “I’m sure he must know someone who works there or you’ll have a data breach that has not been known.”

The comments section on her video has been a mix of support and skepticism. One user noted, “how is that SWA fault? all ur statements are assumptions. I feel for you, getting hacked its awful. But do a police report, advise your bank/CC company etc.” Another user pointed out a potential policy flaw, saying, “And this is why tickets should NOT be transferable to any other person! No exceptions.” 

Papilove has been active in the replies, confirming she is taking formal steps. She shared, “I have made an fbi report for internet fraud, as well as dispute with my bank. Next step is a police report.” In a later update, she added, “Thanks! I went today and disputed it with my bank. So we will see if they can get a resolution. & yes I immediately had swa send me a new link to change password because he locked me out of it & changed mine.”

Unfortunately, this seems to be a recurring problem. Just this last week, a Redditor posted about their Southwest account being hacked. Last year, there were many more complaints about the same issue on Reddit. Additionally, WMAR2 ahd reported that a Maryland Retiree, Denise Freiji, had over 500,000 points drained from her Southwest account. In that case, the airline restored the points as a goodwill gesture, but laid bare a problem every one of these complainants has had. 

Southwest’s PR team told WMAR2, “Southwest is committed to protecting our Customers’ accounts with comprehensive cyber security controls. We are enhancing our core technology and have implemented a range or proactive and responsive security measures across our platforms, including multi-factor authentication to our More Rewards program to protect Rapid Reward points redemptions.”

It should be noted that despite this statement, multi-factor authentication only seems to be a thing when you call the company, not online. Hence Papilove’s demand. Additionally, according to PEOPLE, hackers are increasingly gaining access to loyalty accounts across the industry. One traveler, Susan Orloff, told the outlet that someone accessed her American Airlines account to purchase gift cards. 

Frontier Airlines customers have also reported similar issues with stolen miles. Experts like Katy Nastro from the Going Travel App suggest that airlines have no legal obligation to replace these stolen funds, which makes it even more critical for travelers to use unique passwords, enable multi-factor authentication, and check their point balances frequently. 

Despite these warnings and recurring reports, it appears many customers are still finding their accounts vulnerable to unauthorized access, leaving them to navigate a difficult process of disputing charges and trying to recover their stolen property.