A Windsor resident named Harvey Lemire recently discovered that $140 worth of his Petro-Points had mysteriously vanished. Lemire, who diligently tracks his points on the Petro-Canada website, noticed a sudden drop in his balance in late December. Upon investigation, he found that $70 had been redeemed without his knowledge at Petro-Canada locations he had never visited.
Despite his efforts to resolve the issue with Petro-Canada, as of January 27, Lemire has not had his points restored. He remains optimistic that his communication with Suncor, the owner of Petro-Canada, will lead to a resolution.
Jennifer Matthews, CEO of the Better Business Bureau of Western Ontario, highlighted that such incidents are not uncommon with loyalty programs like Petro-Points. She emphasized that cybersecurity breaches are often the root cause of points theft. Matthews advised the public to practice good cyberhygiene, such as enabling two-factor authentication, changing passwords regularly, and avoiding suspicious links in messages.
When asked about the safety of accumulating large amounts of loyalty points for future use, Matthews cautioned that it could lead to significant losses if stolen. Despite his experience, Lemire expressed his intention to continue collecting Petro-Points while hoping for improved systems to address such issues in the future.
