How to lock your Sainsbury's Nectar card points as outraged shoppers ‘get TWO YEARS' worth stolen'

Scottish Sun

a day ago

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ON POINT How to lock your Sainsbury's Nectar card points as outraged shoppers 'get TWO YEARS' worth stolen'
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SHOPPERS have been issued a reminder to lock their Nectar card after an outraged shopper had two years worth of points stolen.
Sainsbury's launched a safety feature in February, which allows you to lock your points after customers complained that their points had been stolen.
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Customers are complaining that there Nectar card points have been robbed
Credit: Alamy
But experts have issued fresh warnings to customers to make use of the security measure, as shoppers continue to post on social media about their points being swiped.
Jake Moore, global cybersecurity advisor at Eset told The Sun, customers should monitor their account activity "frequently to detect and report any unauthorised actions promptly".
He said: "It's is especially important to monitor accounts more often just before Christmas as this is usually when criminals target accounts with points that have been accumulated over the year."
When an account is locked customers can not use the loyalty rewards to get money off their shop, but can still collect points if they scan their card at the till.
Increased security was rolled out earlier this year after an investigation by The Daily Mail, found that over 12million Nectar card points worth nearly £63,000 had been stolen from shoppers.
It was reported last October that criminals were using social media channels to sell 1,000 Nectar accounts at a time.
But even though new security measures are in place, many shoppers are still claiming their Nectar rewards have been swiped.
Since the lock feature was introduced around 14 people have posted on X about the issue, including one who said she had had "£15 stolen".
In a recent post she said: Someone has stolen 3000 of my nectar points?
"I have never been to Twickenham in my life and I have been saving these points for two years to help pay for Christmas, please look into this."
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One Nectar point is worth 0.5p, with 100 points worth 50p and 200 points are worth £1.
Consumer expert Martyn James told The Sun the majority of customers will be "unaware" their Nectar points have vanished.
"That's because we rarely look at the app or check the total on our receipts."
He added: "Download the latest version of the app and activate the lock feature.
"But Sainsburys need to reassure customers about why this is happening so we can shop with confidence."
He also said customers should download the latest version of the app and "activate the lock feature".
A Nectar spokesperson told The Sun: 'Nectar is one of the UK's biggest loyalty schemes, with over 23 million members.
"The security of our customer accounts is our highest priority and the proportion of those impacted by fraud each year is very small."
"We have a range of measures which detect, and in many cases prevent fraud, including our Spend Lock feature.
They added: "Our Nectar Helpline team are on hand to support any customer who suspects they may have been a victim of fraud.'
HOW TO LOCK YOUR NECTAR CARD POINTS
If you are a Sainsbury's customer you can find the feature in the Nectar Card app, which can be downloaded in the Google Play or Apple store.
Once that is downloaded, you then need to go into settings and click on the section which reads "Lock or Unlock Spending".
There will be an option to click which option you would prefer.
You can change whether you want to lock or unlock your points any time you like by using the app.
Shoppers can continue to earn points as they shop and get money off when it is locked.
But it means customers will not be able to use any of their points to get money off their shopping or any other deals until the cardholder unlocks the points in the app.
When you choose to unlock your points it is usually instant but may take longer in busy stores or during busy times.
If you want to use the points you have locked it may be best to unlock them before you shop.