With the rapid rise of identity theft, the importance of shredding our personal documents has heightened over the past years. With ever-progressing technological advances, it has become quite easy for many dishonest people to enter our lives and steal our information.

If you were not shredding your airline boarding passes before, you may be compelled to after after watching this I-Team Investigative report. Turns out, the two-dimensional barcodes and QR codes printed on your boarding passes are a gateway for would-be thieves.

According to Krebs On Security, those codes on the boarding passes hold a wealth of information such as your future travel plans, your frequent flyer account information and even your home address and personal contact information. Many people carelessly discard of their boarding passes, making it easier for the information to be stolen.

Tech-savvy hackers can use a simple phone app to decode your information, enlarge it, and quickly read the data online. The reporter demonstrates with a passenger who was able to see all of her information pop up on the screen of the app.

The information contained in your boarding pass could make it easier for an attacker to reset the PIN number of frequent flyer accounts which could lead to stolen miles. 

Next time you fly, be mindful of where you leave your boarding passes. It could make the world of difference!

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