Nectar points theft ‒ why you need to change your password now

Many cardholders have contacted Nectar about missing points. Here's what to do if yours have been stolen.

A host of Nectar cardholders have reported having points stolen from their accounts.

Many shoppers like to save up their loyalty points over the year, and then use them to help cover the costs of Christmas.

However, it appears that some have now discovered that they will have to turn to other means instead, with thousands of pounds disappearing from their accounts.

'They are spending my points 100 miles away!'

Over the last couple of weeks, a host of Nectar point collectors have taken to Twitter to report points vanishing from their accounts.

One Twitter user, Mark Wratten, contacted Nectar to report that 10,000 points had been stolen from his account and spent in a store in Derby, 100 miles away from where he was using his own card in Aylesbury.

Sorry to hear this has happened Mark! If you could DM me, and I'll get this investigated for you. Will

— Nectar (@nectar) November 30, 2019

Another user, Dave Eaglecliff, said that points worth £80 had dropped off the value of his points total, while others have reported points worth upwards of £100 have disappeared from their accounts.

Cutting Christmas costs

Having loyalty points stolen at any point is going to be a blow, but it’s particularly painful at Christmas given so many people use the points accrued over the year to help pay for presents and Christmas food.

A study by Sainsbury’s Bank ‒ part of the Nectar scheme ‒ last month found that more than a third of shoppers (36%) were planning to cash in their loyalty points to help with the festive expenditure, redeeming an average of £61 each.

Around one in 10 are going even further, using over £100 worth of loyalty points. 

What does Nectar have to say?

A spokesperson for Nectar said the firm was asking for customers to get in contact to report any points they believe are missing from their accounts so that Nectar can “investigate and refund points where appropriate”.

They added: “We regularly review our security measures to ensure customers are protected and advise customers to regularly update their passwords and be mindful of increasingly sophisticated phishing attempts from fraudsters.”

This isn’t the first time that there have been reports of stolen points either ‒ in the run-up to Christmas last year a host of Nectar point collectors reported points going missing, which the firm again put down to customers potentially falling victim to phishing scams.

This has evolved beyond iffy emails from people posing as Nectar, attempting to get you to hand over your account details ‒ last year Nectar warned its customers about a text phishing scam doing the rounds, promising recipients double points if they clicked a link within the message and logged into their account.

Fake supermarket vouchers: how to stay safe

What should I do now?

The first thing to do if you’re a Nectar customer is to log into your account and check your points balance. 

It’s also worth going through your statements to see exactly when points have been spent, so that you can spot any suspicious activity.

If you think points have been spent by someone other than you, then it’s important to report it to Nectar as soon as you can.

Nectar has been refunding some customers, but it isn't doing so for everyone. Get in touch to see what they can do to help you.

Even if your points haven’t been stolen, it’s likely a good idea to change your password, just in case your details have already been pinched but the thieves haven’t got around to cashing in on your balance just yet.

Check out our article on how to set a strong password for some top tips.