It’s tough enough to earn frequent flyer miles, let alone redeem them, but be aware of a growing scam in stolen frequent flyer miles. Crooks are now stealing frequent flyer numbers and passwords, and then redeeming miles and points to buy gift cards.

And once that happens, your mileage has disappeared forever. So to protect yourself, throw your boarding passes away after using them; they often contain your name and frequent flyer account number.

Then pick a unique password and then make sure your airline or hotel mileage program gives you the option to establish a dual-factor authorization to access your account.