Travelers had millions of airline reward miles stolen, Texas authorities say

Travelers lost millions of frequent-flier miles in a fraud conspiracy, Texas authorities say.

Six men are accused of stealing airline miles from passengers from 2011 to 2019, according to the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas. They used hacked airline accounts to book travel for unsuspecting travelers who had paid them to buy flights, authorities say.

Wojciech Borkowski, a 43-year-old Polish man and lead defendant in the case, was extradited to the U.S. and appeared in a Texas federal court Monday.

Borkowski hacked the airline accounts of travelers and used the information to book flights for people who purchased travel through five other men, authorities say.

The other five defendants are Terran Oliver of Allen, Texas; Semaj Lee of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma; Derrick Booker of Spencer, Oklahoma; Yusuf Siddique of Folsom, California; and Stanley Benton of Los Angeles.

The passengers sent itineraries and personal information to these men, who then paid Borkowski to book flights with the fraudulent airline miles, authorities say.

All six were indicted on charges of conspiracy to commit wire fraud in August 2019, officials say. They could go to prison for up to 20 years if convicted.