Passengers should think twice before binning their bag tags.

Arriving at an airport is often a chaotic experience. From elbowing your way off the plane to grabbing your luggage at the carousel, most of us just want to get out of the arrivals and get our holiday started. However, this lack of attention can often leave holidaymakers vulnerable to the sneaky work of scammers.

One trick in the arsenal of scammers involves discarded luggage tags.

When you check in for your flight, any baggage being checked into the hold will be tagged with a large sticker displaying the destination airport, as well as other details such as your name and confirmation number, depending on the airline.

According to a Reddit poster on the r/Delta subreddit, who identified themselves as an airport worker, many passengers simply tear off these tags and bin them once they get to their destination airport. However, because these tags potentially contain personal information, passengers are being warned not to throw them in airport bins, as the information could be collected by scammers.

The poster warned: "Toss your bag tags at home.We are getting an influx of fraudulent claims being submitted for 'missing items' as these people are observing who is removing their luggage tags in the claim areas and using your information to submit claims for reimbursement.

"From my own personal experience [of] currently dealing with this, it is causing issue[s] with reimbursing the real people if they submit a legitimate claim.So please be careful and don't take your tags off at the airport. They can steal enough information from that to use your travel itinerary to get paid."

According to the poster, while the bag tag may only have limited data, a fraudster could potentially set up an email address with that person's name on it and submit a claim for lost or damaged luggage.

One comment pointed out that at some Japanese airports, there are bins to securely dispose of baggage tags, ensuring that your personal data isn't left in public. However, it's best to simply keep your tags attached and shred them at home if possible.

It comes as passengers have also been warned to keep an eye on their boarding passes and ensure they never share photos of their tickets on social media.

Earlier this year, a man in the USA was given a $5,000 fine after stowing away on a flight by using a boarding pass stolen from a child.

As reported by Fox News, the man managed to take photos of passengers' phones displaying their boarding passes and used one to gain access to the plane before hiding out in the bathroom.

It wasn't until after takeoff when a flight attendant noticed he was wandering around and didn't have a seat that the alarm was raised and the plane returned to Salt Lake City Airport. The 2024 incident highlighted the need for passengers to keep their personal information safe, even in areas with tight security such as airports.

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