Mandy Campbell from Kincardine, Ontario, spent nearly a year accumulating hundreds of thousands of PC Optimum points, only to have thieves swipe them in a matter of minutes. She discovered the theft in late July when she realized someone had used the barcode from the PC app to cash in her points at a Shoppers Drug Mart in Oakville, where over $1,000 worth of products were redeemed. Despite living hours away from Oakville, Campbell’s points were fraudulently claimed at that location.
She promptly reported the incident to Loblaw, the parent company of PC Optimum, but was frustrated by the delay in recovering her points. After seeking assistance from Speakers Corner, her points were swiftly reinstated by Loblaw. However, the mystery of how her points were stolen remains unsolved. Campbell suspects a possible link to a data breach disclosed by Loblaw earlier in the year, which exposed customer contact data.
Although Loblaw denies that the data breach influenced Campbell’s case, she now takes extra precautions to safeguard her account, including locking the redeem option on the PC Optimum app until she is in-store and ready to use her points. Despite the ordeal, Campbell advises others to remain vigilant with their app settings to prevent similar incidents.
In light of the theft exceeding $1,000, Campbell has filed a police report, and authorities are actively investigating the matter.
