Who stole my Nectar points?
August 22, 2024•429 words
I've shopped in Sainsbury's for over 25 years and since the launch of their Nectar card, have enjoyed many Christmas dinners paid for from my previous years points. I tend to let the points accumulate rather than spending them all the time.
My Story Starts Here
I'd just switched to Proton Pass and was working my way through the list of weak passwords that were shown in the Pass Monitor. Nectar.com was one of the weak passwords, so for the first time is a long while I logged into my account, with the sole intention of just changing the password and move on the next in the list.
But it wasn't as straightforward as that, as when I logged in I saw my Nectar Points activity. What the hell was going on?
Nectar Points Activity
Here is a table created from the details in the image:
Date: 15 AUGUST 2024
| Store | Location | Points |
|---|---|---|
| Sainsbury's | New Cross Gate | -15,500 |
| Sainsbury's | New Cross Gate | +60 |
| Sainsbury's | Uxbridge | +13 |
| Sainsbury's | Bonus Reward | +10 |
| Sainsbury's | Brixton Station Local | +1 |
| Sainsbury's | Brixton | -500 |
| Sainsbury's | Bonus Reward | +15 |
I noticed Brixton and New Cross Gate on the activity page, neither places i'd visited for over 20 years. The most worrying transaction was the top one, 15500 points spent in a single transaction in New Cross Gate. A cash equivalent of £77.50. I knew one thing for certain, and that is that neither myself or my wife spent them, so who did?
You'll see there was an initial transaction of 500 points, followed by the big 15500.
Calling Nectar
A quick call to Nectar confirmed my suspicion, my Nectar card had been cloned, but how, we both had our cards, which we don't actually use as we have the card on our iPhone wallet. The security advisor I spoke to wouldn't elaborate, but he did cancel my card, ordered me a new one and instantly added my points back on.
But I was still intrigued as to how those rascals had pulled off such a high value heist 😭
Detective Google Can Help
Searching Google quickly found the answer to my question, and it blew my mind just how easy it was to do. Nectar has to do something about this soon. Watch the video below. You wont believe how easy it is.