(ECNS) -- The accounts of two Beijing users of the car-hailing Uber app were recently hacked, sparking concerns about loopholes in online financial security, Beijing Business Today reported.
A resident surnamed Zhang said her Uber account fell victim to hackers, resulting in a credit card spend totaling 147.33 yuan ($22.41) on Uber services in Shanghai, while she was actually in Beijing at the time.
After receiving two text messages about the spending from her bank on the afternoon of June 19, she immediately informed the bank to freeze her credit card to avoid further loss.
Later, Uber told Zhang her account had been edited by another person and logged into from another device.
Zhang said she later found an unknown credit card was added to her Uber account and new orders continued to be placed in Shenzhen and other places until 9pm the same day, the paper reported.
Besides, Zhang was not alone. Last week, another Beijing woman, surnamed Zhu, received a payment notice from her bank, saying she had used an Uber service and paid a fare of more than 100 yuan in Zhejiang. "I didn't hail any taxi on the day. Plus I was in Beijing," she said. "It was possible that my Uber account had been hacked."
After receiving the bank information, Zhu made attempts to log into her Uber account but failed. Uber replied in an e-mail to her that the company would check related information and solve the problem as soon as possible.
According to Uber, using the same account name and password on multiple online platforms made users especially vulnerable to hacking, while a simple password made things even worse. The company suggested users use a separate and complicated password to enhance security.
Zhang told the paper Uber confirmed on Monday her account had indeed been hacked. The company soon retrieved the account and returned all missing money.
