Thieves steal millions of PC Optimum points, go on shopping sprees

Lenore Biever lost more than one million PC Optimum rewards points after someone apparently hacked her account and went on a shopping spree.

The points which are worthmore than $1,000 in product rewardswere spent on March 7 at two Loblaws-owned Pharmaprix drug stores in Laval, Que.

Biever lives in Saskatoon and has never been to Quebec.

"I was shocked," she said, after discovering the bogus transactionsplus an indication that a mystery cellphonehad been linked to her online account. "I'm still in shock, like how did [the thief] figure it out?"

Other PC Optimum members are asking the same question.

CBC News interviewed eight people across Canada who say they've each had more than 100,000 points stolen from their accountsafter Loblaws merged its two rewards programs PC Plus and Shoppers Optimumto form PC Optimumon Feb. 1.

The reported thefts are just one more problem plaguing Loblaws, which is already dealing with technical glitches with PC Optimum, and fallout from a bread price-fixing scandal,includingrelated fallout over asking some people to send ID to collect a $25 gift card as compensation for the overpriced bread.

In the theft cases CBC Newsinvestigated, many of the stolen points were redeemed for products at Loblaws-owned stores in Quebec.

All the complainantsreported what happenedto PC Optimum, but theytold CBCthey were having difficultygettingtheir cases resolved. After CBC News contacted Loblawsthis week, almost everyone quicklygot their points back.

Bieversays shefirst reported the theft to PC Optimum on March 8,the day after it occurred, and was assured the matter would be dealt with.

"It's scary," said Biever,who has her PC credit card linked to her account and was worried about her personal data being compromised.

Four days later, she received an email from the program stating that it had reset her account password after noticing "some unusual activity." It said if her account had been hacked, the culprit would have been able to accessher name, address, phone number and points balance.

However, the email saidthere was no evidence of any "unauthorized activity."

"Are you ... kidding me?" said Biever. "I couldn't believe it."

She called PC Optimum to explain once again that her account had indeed been compromisedand that she wanted her points back.

"I'll phone them every day if I have to," she said.

'Major problem'

Geri-Lynn SlogotskiofVictoria told CBCNews she lost 120,000 points worth $120 in rewards aftersomeone appeared to hackher account on March 5. According to her account records, the culpritspent the points in Montreal at Maxi & Cie, a Loblaws-owned supermarket.

She contacted PC Optimum on March 11 when she noticed the theft and, despite further inquiries, was still waiting for a resolution when CBC News interviewed her on Monday.

So was her mother, Marge Kenney, who also lives in Victoria and had 390,000 points vanish from her account on Feb.24. They were spent at a Loblaws Superstore in Calgary.

"I think it's a major, major problem," Slogotskisaid."They're probably really struggling about what to do."

Justin Lim of Toronto lost 650,000 points worth $650 on March 17.

After reporting the theft to PC Optimum, Lim discovered the points were used to buy two televisions at a Shoppers Drug Mart in Mississauga, Ont.

"What are they doing moving forward to prevent these security issues?" said Lim. "I want answers."

CBC News contacted Loblawson Tuesday, and provided a list of the eight people interviewed for this story. Since then, mostgot their points back plus instructions on how to secure their accounts.

"We have strong security measures in place across our digital platforms and take any sign of unusual activity very seriously," spokesperson Catherine Thomas said.

She said Loblaws iscommitted to helping everyone facing points problems but acknowledged some members have faced "unacceptable delays."

At least six million Canadians are PC Optimum members. Thomas did not say how many membershave reportedpoints thefts, nor did she explain how the heistsmight have happened. She stressed that members should create strong, unique passwords.

Biever says a PC Optimum representative restored all her points plus added an extra 100,000 as a bonus. She was also instructed to change her email password.

She says she plans to goon a shopping spree with her one million points, but she's unsure whether she'll collect any more in the future.

"They offer this free program, but then they put you at risk."