Millions of PC Optimum Points Stolen
CBC reports Thieves steal millions of PC Optimum points, go on shopping sprees. In short, several PC Optimum accounts were hacked and points were redeemed.
As if Loblaws needs more issues at with the whole “overpriced bread” scandal, where they offered a $25 gift card as compensation. But then now requesting ID from people to qualify for the gift card. Is this really a good time to ask for IDs when they have having hacker issues?
That being said, I was pleasantly surprised with the PC Optimum merger itself. They kept most of the value of the former Shopper Optimum program, so it does not feel like a devaluation. I am curious as the why T&T Rewards is still not fully integrated with Loblaws.
More importantly, what are your thoughts about the PC Optimum program as a whole? In other words, how do you feel about the program when balancing all the problems versus the value that you are getting?
T&T rewards is a scam. They will only issue you points if you spend 20$ or more. In other words, if you spend 19.99$, you get 0 points. Ditto, if you spend 39.99, you get 20 points.
Nice way of having a points program, where you underpay customers.
Just another reason why I would like to see the integration with PC Optimum instead.
Working in law enforcement, I can assure you that as soon as something comes out, there are people who will figure out a way to scam it. This is why we can no longer redeem points for gift cards. There was a major breach over a year ago that caused that limitation.
As a cautionary note and this is just a suspicion at this stage.. I have seen friends share on FB links where you can receive a “bonus” 10,000 PC Points, with the promoter not being either Loblaws or Shoppers. And I have NOT clicked the link on purpose. So chances are, the registration for the “bonus 10,000” leads you to a registration which will probably request an email and other information. Once at least one of those details is provided, the hacking process can start. If they have your number and an email address, and you have a weak password like 123456 or “password” (which are the 2 most commonly used and hacked passwords by the way) the process becomes very easy.
Many of the popular “share-worthy” games, ads, tests etc are just ways to get information on or about you.
REMEMBER that because it’s on FB etc doesn’t mean it’s real. If it sounds too good to be true it probably is.
I encourage people to have a separate email address that you only use for sign-ups etc and never use a password on that, which you use anywhere else. It would surprise many, but an unscrupulous coder or hacker can easily discover what is typed under the ******** that appears on your screen as you type your password. Check the URLs (site addresses) to make sure they are accurate and not knock offs of actual sites where you think you are dealing with a legitimate company.
For example, there is a free $200 fuel gift card available at http://www.gottalovepoints.com/ but I could mirror that site with gotalovepoints.com or gotta-love-points.com One less “t” or additional characters leading to a different address that is designed to look exactly the same as the legitimate site.
How many of you would sign up for that free gift card at gottalovepoints.com and provide details like name, address, date of birth and maybe mother’s maiden name. Would you provide login details like a primary email and a password you use elsewhere? How many of you tried to load that site? It’s bogus. Remember what I said to REMEMBER above. But I could have that operational within an hour and have people signing up and registering and sharing with their friends since I would include a bonus referral offer. In the anticipated 3-4 weeks it would take for your gift card to arrive (which won’t arrive) think of how many registrations could occur and how much information could be obtained.
I see and deal with people daily who have been ripped off. And I will deal with more new ones tomorrow. Think about this before you sign up for that next free give-away for a $175,000 free RV because they are “overstocked.”
Wow! Thanks for sharing your insights Rod. That is very helpful!
I’ve had problems with the PC loyalty program for quite some time. Neither my husband nor I have smart phones (and no intention of getting any), so we are limited to email on our computer. Trying to link two cards was a nightmare They kept sending me information on “adding devices”. Now, we are required to sign into our accounts with passwords in order to review our offers. No doubt security is the excuse, but it doesn’t seem to be working well, does it?
I am not impressed with the offers, either. It seems that if I buy a product I use rarely, I will get offers for the same item for successive weeks. Since I purchased my semi-annual bottle of soy sauce, I’ve had six offers for more. Last week, my offers included five different types of cheese. I mean, how much cheese can two seniors eat? Value for money? No, not really. Even though it takes several months to accumulate enough points to redeem, it’s still better than nothing. And that’s not saying much.
On a phone you can swipe most offers to the left and get the option to save it for next week, or don’t show that offer again.
On your pc you should be able to click the offer and get the same options.
They still have some kinks to work out. Hope they figure them out soon!
Keep your portfolio diversified!