They stole 14,000 Nectar points from me… and told me to visit the gas station where the fraud occurred or they wouldn’t refund me.

A Nectar customer who had thousands of points stolen was ordered to visit the gas station where fraudsters had used his card before he could receive a refund.

Last month, Caroline Enderby discovered that 14,000 Nectar points had been used at a Sainsbury’s petrol station in July without her knowledge.

While recording all of his fuel purchases, he was able to confirm to Nectar that he was not on site at the time.

When she contacted Nectar to alert them about the fraud, they informed her that her points would be refunded, which provided some relief.

This has often been the case with Nectar customers who have had their points stolen, as This is Money has written about in the past.

This time, however, Caroline was told that the points would only be refunded once she visited the gas station, because it’s one she uses occasionally.

‘This I did, although the store manager was baffled as to why I had been asked to do this, as he cannot instigate the return of that amount of points.

“Upon informing Nectar, I was informed that my points would be refunded and a new card would be issued.”

However, when Caroline’s new card arrived, she discovered that she had not been refunded and was told that since she occasionally used the gas station, she would not get her points back.

Instead, they advised him to report the theft to the police.

This is Money took Caroline’s case to Sainsbury’s, owner of Nectar, to ask why she had been directed to the fuel station only to not have her points refunded.

We also asked Nectar if it was now policy not to refund points at locations a customer has occasionally used.

Given how widespread this scam appears to be now (This is Money has been alerting readers to it for over a decade), it’s also concerning that there appear to have been changes to its refund policy.

However, Sainsbury’s did not respond to our questions.

Instead, a spokesperson said: “We have contacted Ms Enderby to apologize for her experience and have arranged for her Nectar points to be refunded to her new account.”

“We have also added 2,000 extra points to your account for your inconvenience.”

Some clarity came when a Nectar representative contacted Cathy directly and said: ‘I have reviewed your contacts and can see that they recommended that you visit the gas station where you redeemed your points.

‘I am sorry to hear that this has happened and I can assure you that this is not the correct process.

“This has been communicated to the colleague from whom you received this advice to ensure this does not happen again in the future.”

This is Money has highlighted a flaw in Nectar’s system that means criminals can apparently use customers’ points without having the physical card.

Over a million rewards points have been stolen from our readers so far this year, and since we highlighted it on Nectar in August, over 50 readers have reached out with similar issues.

In fact, since Friday, four more cases of stolen Nectar points have been sent to This is Money, for a total of over 100,000 points captured.

Sainsbury’s, owner of Nectar, says that while it will refund points in the event of fraud (and has done so for the majority of our readers), this affects only a small proportion of its 18 million members.

However, the flood of readers who have gotten in touch suggests the issue is lucrative for scammers.

Have your Nectar points been stolen? Get in touch: editor@thisismoney.co.uk