Home Money How 12.5 million Nectar points worth almost £63,000 were stolen from our readers over the past year

How 12.5 million Nectar points worth almost £63,000 were stolen from our readers over the past year

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Fortunately, Sainsbury's, owner of Nectar, has refunded the stolen points in most cases.

Rachel* had been diligently saving her Nectar points throughout 2024 and was looking forward to spending them on a bottle of Remy Cognac for herself for Christmas.

By chance, the drink was on sale at your local Sainsbury’s, meaning your 10,000 points, worth £50, would have covered the entire cost.

But just a few days before Christmas, he noticed that his entire Nectar balance had been used at a store hundreds of miles from his home.

Unfortunately, Rachel is not alone. Over the course of December, This Is Money heard from almost 100 readers who had their Nectar balances emptied before Christmas.

We can now reveal that 12 million points worth more than £60,000 were stolen from our readers last year, ranging from small amounts worth £2.50 up to £1,000.

Fortunately, Sainsbury’s, owner of Nectar, has refunded the stolen points in most cases.

Christmas store ruined by thieves

Rachel celebrated her birthday on December 17, but it took her two days to realize that the criminals had made their own celebration tent.

He received three emails showing almost 10,000 points had been spent in Stanmore, almost 200 miles from his home in Yorkshire.

After contacting Nectar to alert them of the theft, her card was quickly blocked, but that meant she ran out of points just days before Christmas.

Her points were refunded on Christmas Eve, but at the time, Rachel says, she had gone to see her sister and was unlikely to receive the replacement Nectar card.

This meant she was unable to use the £50 worth of points she had saved and opted to shop at Tesco.

Rachel says that while she won’t stop shopping at Sainsbury’s, the saga has caused her unnecessary stress.

‘My husband died in 2022, he had not been well for many years. I ran the house, made many decisions and handled the finances.

“But now that I’m alone, it takes away my confidence,” she says. “What worries me now is how my Nectar points were stolen.”

During December it appears that criminals increased their spending in the run-up to Christmas using illicitly obtained Nectar numbers.

Christine, who lives in Nottingham, said she discovered 500 points worth £2.50 had been spent in Birmingham just two days before Christmas.

Three hours after alerting Nectar, it discovered a further 39,500 points worth £197.50 had been spent on Taplow.

“Needless to say I was very angry, this was my Christmas shopping money,” she says.

Christine had been saving points for “over a year” and had previously purchased many higher-value items, including a vacuum cleaner, with her points.

“I save them for that purpose to buy something I really want, and this year I saved them for my Christmas shop.”

Nectar refunded Christine’s points within a week, but it meant she had to give up the £200 she was hoping to save on her Christmas shop.

Readers lose THOUSANDS to criminals

Rachel and Christine represent just a few Nectar customers who have had their points stolen, and not just at Christmas.

This is Money first wrote about the recent spate of Nectar points theft in January 2024, after a reader contacted us to say they had lost 74,000 points, worth £370, to scammers.

James* said his account showed two small transactions in Hackney, east London, and three larger ones at a petrol station in Enfield despite living in Gloucester and not being in London that day.

This prompted hundreds more readers to write in with similar thefts, including some readers who were asked to report it to the police, even though it was not a recordable offence.

Sainsbury’s, which owns Nectar, has thankfully refunded points in most cases, although in some they have suggested they will not do so because the theft occurred at their local store.

Throughout the year, our investigations have revealed worrying patterns that have made it easier for criminals to continue stealing points.

As a result, our readers have lost a cumulative amount. 12,532,655 nectar points between January 2024 and the first week of January 2025, equivalent to £62,663.28.

According to our inbox, about 11.3 million of them occurred between August 2024 and the first week of January 2025.

Many question the lack of security or authentication on Nectar cards, meaning criminals can theoretically duplicate a card’s barcode.

Likewise, there is no limit to the number of points that can be spent at any given time or the authentication required.

Nectar is understood to have systems in place to detect unusual activity, but this usually occurs after fraud has occurred.

We also discovered evidence of secret groups exchanging reward points from Nectar customers.

The Nectar Facebook group is also full of customers who have had points stolen and are often the most liked comments on posts made by the loyalty scheme.

The most recent came from a customer who had his points stolen before Christmas and said it took Nectar “too long” to refund him.

“It appears to be a lucrative business, stealing points and selling them openly on the internet, which shows how little security is applied to our accounts.” they added.

We have asked Nectar several times to explain what is happening and whether the security system should be reviewed to better protect customers.

In response to our questions about customers lost before Christmas, a spokesperson said: ‘The security of our customers’ accounts is our top priority and we have a number of measures in place that detect, and in many cases prevent, fraud.

‘Nectar is one of the UK’s largest loyalty programs, with over 23 million members, and the proportion of those affected by fraud each year is small.

‘For any customer who suspects they may have been a victim of fraud, we aim to correct this as soon as we become aware.

“We told the two customer examples that This is Money shared with us how sorry we were for the inconvenience this caused them and their missing points were quickly returned, even on the same day on Christmas Eve in one case.”

Have your Nectar points been stolen? Contact editor@thisismoney.co.uk

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