This is seriously bad

[The Med]

We got off The Scarlet Lady last Thursday and since then my phone has popped up with various messages from Virgin which I didn’t take too much notice off saying to my husband “the app thinks I’m still on the ship”

 

However I then got a notice about “you’ve booked a shore thing” so I opened the app to take a closer look.

 

Oh my goodness….the app thinks I’m someone called Cassidy from Louisiana (not giving full name for obvious reasons) and I have nearly all her privacy information including what she’s spent since she embarked, who her emergency contact is including a phone number, I’ve even got all her passport details.

 

She wasn’t even staying in the same cabin as us so goodness knows how this has happened.
 

This is a serious data breach.

 

 

[Halifax Dude]

Wow.....that is extremely serious.  Have you contacted Virgin to report it?

[Actuality251]

Yikes. Good thing an honest woman like you got it. How could that happen?

[garycarla]

You really should the phone back to that lady. She is still looking for it   LOL!

 

[Lisa353]

Last week I was in the app and I had all these people who we don't know, linked to my account.  My partner and I are linked to friends who are coming on our upcoming cruise in October and we asked them if they knew who these people were and they didn't so it was just random people.  Virgin are blaming our TA but our TA says that it wasn't her that added them and we believe her because she is one of our friends.  I would hate to think that some stranger has my private details in their account.

[cantgetin]

1 hour ago, Lisa353 said:

Last week I was in the app and I had all these people who we don't know, linked to my account.  My partner and I are linked to friends who are coming on our upcoming cruise in October and we asked them if they knew who these people were and they didn't so it was just random people.  Virgin are blaming our TA but our TA says that it wasn't her that added them and we believe her because she is one of our friends.  I would hate to think that some stranger has my private details in their account.

The problem is that when this happens, those people can change you dining reservations, etc.  Delete everyone you don't know/didn't add

[Lisa353]

1 minute ago, cantgetin said:

The problem is that when this happens, those people can change you dining reservations, etc.  Delete everyone you don't know/didn't add

That's what I was thinking.  As Virgin are blaming our TA, they won't speak to us anymore about it so our TA is chasing it up with Virgin and with their privacy department.  Thankfully we haven't reached the point yet where we can book dining as our cruise isn't until October.

[CineGraphic]

1 hour ago, Lisa353 said:

Last week I was in the app and I had all these people who we don't know, linked to my account.  My partner and I are linked to friends who are coming on our upcoming cruise in October and we asked them if they knew who these people were and they didn't so it was just random people.  Virgin are blaming our TA but our TA says that it wasn't her that added them and we believe her because she is one of our friends.  I would hate to think that some stranger has my private details in their account.

 

This happens when your agent,or the agency they work for has you booked into a "circle" (group booking) https://www.virginvoyages.com/firstmatesahoy/latestnews/circles-group-bookings

 

 

[Lisa353]

Just now, CineGraphic said:

 

This happens when your agent,or the agency they work for has you booked into a "circle" (group booking) https://www.virginvoyages.com/firstmatesahoy/latestnews/circles-group-bookings

 

 

Our TA has not booked us into a circle.  They don't do that.  Our cruise was booked separate as we booked through our TA and our friends booked directly with Virgin.  Also we are based in the UK and our friends are based in the US.  Our TA has no idea who any of the names were.

[cantgetin]

I was in a social media group for our sailing; my guess was that people from the group added me....again, just remove them.  It didn't bother me until I saw that a dinner reservation had disappeared.  Fortunately I was able to add it back.  The problem is that if people are linked, they can "accidentally" mess with your non-pay reservations.

[Wildcatllamas]

I remember awhile back when Virgin was offering that if you shared with your friends that you were on a certain sailing and they booked through your link that each of you got $50 OBC. People were sharing their links here like crazy. So that would lead to bunches of people that you don't know suddenly being in your "circle". I think that came to an end back in 2021 or early 2022.

 

[garycarla]

On 3/24/2024 at 8:30 AM, The Med said:

This is a serious data breach.

 

 

 

Not sure how serious it is, but a data issue either way.    Yea, we do not want to share this stuff, but to assume this is now available to "bad actors" is not the same.   

[cantgetin]

OP's original post of seeing another person's booking info was serious.  Normally, what you see is a photo of someone and they can then mess with your free dinner and show reservations.  Not a huge data breach, but still a problem.

[The Med]

My TA isn’t available until tomorrow but I will fill him in on this.

 

What I can’t understand is why the app is thinking that I am someone else who wasn’t on the same cruise as me, was in a different cabin to me and lives in a different country to me.

 

I’d say this is serious considering I can view her private information including her next of kin, her e mail address, her passport details.

 

I can’t see the payment information thankfully.

 

I did delete the app and reinstall it, it still thinks I’m her.

 

 

[cantgetin]

I wonder if this person has a phone number very close to yours or if VV somehow switched the phone numbers.....just a thought.

[The Med]

3 hours ago, cantgetin said:

I wonder if this person has a phone number very close to yours or if VV somehow switched the phone numbers.....just a thought.

I can’t see how American and British numbers would be similar.

 

Also, when I deleted the app and reinstalled it I had to log in with my email address and password which should have brought up me, but it brought up her details.

[Lisa353]

16 hours ago, The Med said:

My TA isn’t available until tomorrow but I will fill him in on this.

 

What I can’t understand is why the app is thinking that I am someone else who wasn’t on the same cruise as me, was in a different cabin to me and lives in a different country to me.

 

I’d say this is serious considering I can view her private information including her next of kin, her e mail address, her passport details.

 

I can’t see the payment information thankfully.

 

I did delete the app and reinstall it, it still thinks I’m her.

 

 

It would be good to know what your TA thinks.  My TA is still waiting to hear back from Virgin's Privacy team.  It is weird that we are both from the UK and both having issues.  There must be some sort of glitch with Virgin's app.

[The Med]

7 hours ago, Lisa353 said:

It would be good to know what your TA thinks.  My TA is still waiting to hear back from Virgin's Privacy team.  It is weird that we are both from the UK and both having issues.  There must be some sort of glitch with Virgin's app.

I phoned my TA, he was appalled, he said that was a bad data breach and there was obviously a glitch in the system. He gave me a phone number to ring, he said it was better if I made the call as I knew all the details.

 

We were just on our way out so I left it until I came back but oddly before I phoned them I opened the app again and it’s reverted back to me again.

 

Strange. 

[KforKitty]

It is a serious data breach and at least in the UK, would need to be referred to the Information Commissioner’s Office.

 

Catherine

 

[Lisa353]

13 hours ago, The Med said:

I phoned my TA, he was appalled, he said that was a bad data breach and there was obviously a glitch in the system. He gave me a phone number to ring, he said it was better if I made the call as I knew all the details.

 

We were just on our way out so I left it until I came back but oddly before I phoned them I opened the app again and it’s reverted back to me again.

 

Strange. 

What did Virgin say when you phoned them?

 

That's very strange it has reverted back to you again.  They must have some glitch on their system for this to happen.

[FFMilesJunkie]

On 3/25/2024 at 9:52 AM, cantgetin said:

I was in a social media group for our sailing; my guess was that people from the group added me....again, just remove them.  It didn't bother me until I saw that a dinner reservation had disappeared.  Fortunately I was able to add it back.  The problem is that if people are linked, they can "accidentally" mess with your non-pay reservations.

This has been changed.  You can now go in and look at your "Friends" in the app and choose for them not to be able to see your agenda. (Just click "profile" and then uncheck the "see agenda" slider).  That way you can still get the "celebration" bottle of sparkling wine without them being part of your agenda.  Your TA can also just choose "celebration" and not dining when creating the "travel with" link.  

[CruisingWalter]

On 3/26/2024 at 3:48 PM, The Med said:

I phoned my TA, he was appalled, he said that was a bad data breach and there was obviously a glitch in the system. He gave me a phone number to ring, he said it was better if I made the call as I knew all the details.

 

Actually your TA should be contacting the First Mates dept. directly.  He should have asked you to send an email detailing the situation. Then the First Mates dept would be the first contact for that TA to fix the situation. If they could not get the situation sorted, then your TA escalates the situation directly to their business development contact from VV to get the situation sorted. That's one of the advantages of using a TA, having them go directly to their contacts if the situation has to be escalated.  

 

That is a very strange situation to be sure. It does sounds like you've been put into a Circle but even there, you would not see anyone else's personal information. .