'Scammers stole our Iceland Xmas savings'! Shoppers discover their store bonus cards have been drained of cash with just weeks to go before Dec 25

1 year ago 59

Christmas shoppers have been left furious after the money they had saved on their Iceland bonus cards disappeared from their accounts.

Customers were delighted when they first found out about the superstore's Christmas offer - where they could get a free £20 bonus if they saved £100 by November 6.

But this soon turned to horror as they watched their hard-earned cash disappear - with some claiming it had been spent hundreds of miles across the country.

The budget supermarket chain has admitted customers have seen 'instances of unlawful access' to the app - and they are taking steps to make sure no customers lose out as a result of it.

It comes five years after a similar scheme wreaked havoc on the store's customers - as a security breach saw criminals access accounts with a large number of bonus cards consequently being cancelled.

Mother-of-four Kerry Dove, 46, said that she was looking forward to spending the extra money on Christmas treats for her children.

The Sheffield Hallam student told MailOnline: 'I put the money on and thought nothing of it because I was saving for Christmas. And then I was just about to put some more on when it showed up as zero.

Mother-of-four Kerry Dove, 46, said that she was looking forward to spending the extra money on Christmas treats for her children. Pictured: Kerry with her empty Iceland Bonus card

The extra £20 would have been a huge help to her house - where she lives with her husband and four children, who are 23, 22, 21 and 13. Pictured: Kerry with her sons Ethan and Julian

Iceland customers were delighted when they first found out about the superstore's Christmas offer - where they could a free £20 bonus if they saved £100 by November 6

But this soon turned to horror as they watched their hard-earned cash disappear before their eyes - with some claiming it had been spent hundreds of miles across the country. Pictured: Kerry's empty card, showing the £105 withdrawal

'I restarted my phone thinking it was a glitch but it still said zero - I was checking back on my history and it said: "Redeemed: £105."

'I couldn't believe it - I was like: "Where's my money gone?" It's not a small amount to lose and I can imagine people in worse situations being absolutely destitute at the money going because thats why you do it - you put a few pips away to see you through.

'I was going to spend it on the usual Christmas dinner stuff - my son likes the cookies so I was going to top him up with his little treats, and get things in like ice creams.

'I was going to stock up our freezer to last as long as possible.'

Iceland's new Christmas scheme for Bonus Card holders gave them a free £15 if they loaded £100 on to their card by November 6.

This came alongside an extra £1 for every £20 you put on the card - meaning punters get a total of £20 back to help with their shopping.

Kerry - who commutes more than two hours every day to university alongside working an extra job as she prepares to change career - says the extra cash came at a time where she really needs to stick to a budget.

She said: 'My husband only managed to get part time work so my student finance is keeping the household afloat. I do a day at Maccies to cover.

Taking to social media, customers across the country were left fuming as they saw their savings drained

The extra £20 would have been a huge help to her house - where she lives with her husband and four children, who are 23, 22, 21 and 13.

'I'm quite busy and I really needed to stick to a budget so this £105 going missing has not done me any favours. Now I need to find the money again because I don't see myself getting it back anytime before Christmas.'

Kerry says she would not trust the cards again - adding: 'As soon as that money comes back on my card I'm taking it and I'm going to spend it.'

Taking to social media, customers across the country were left fuming as they saw their savings drained.

One, called Donna, said that she had lost £74 - which she had set aside for two weeks worth of shopping - while a second, Ruth, said she would not put money on one of the cards again after £100 disappeared.

But Iceland say their systems have not been breached - with login details stolen in security breaches on other websites.

A spokesman for the frozen food store said: 'Iceland has identified instances of unlawful access to a small proportion of its customers’ Bonus Card accounts.

'These login details are stolen through security breaches on other websites where customers have used the same password.

Iceland say their systems have not been breached - with login details stolen in security breaches on other websites

Other customers told of the money scammers had taken from their accounts being used hundreds of miles across the country

'There has been no breach of Iceland’s own systems, nor any loss of data from Iceland itself. Customers are strongly advised to use strong and unique passwords for every website they use.

'We have taken steps to make sure no customers have lost out because of this unlawful activity, and we have worked to restore their balance as quickly as possible.

'Whilst our advice to customers has been that a replacement Bonus Card can take up to 28 days, we have recently made improvements to this process, and reduced it to 10 days. Customers also have the option to use a digital Bonus Card, which takes 24-48 hours for the funds to be available again.'

Other customers told of the money scammers had taken from their accounts being used hundreds of miles across the country.

One - Lee Bruford - took to Facebook to furiously reveal the 'thieving toe rags' had spent his £84 in a branch of Iceland in Haringey, London.

This is 365 miles away from his house.

Raging that it may take up to 28 days for the money to be put back in his account, he said: 'What would they do if that was all I had to feed my kids?

'Very poor experience and won't be using the Iceland bonus card ever again. It's too insecure!'

Another horrified customer - Stuart Rowe - also said he had his money spent in Hounslow - despite living more than 150 miles away in South Yorkshire.

Other customers posted about their losses on the supermarket's bonus cards - urging other loyal punters to check their balances

A third customer - Kate - fumed: 'Just spent an hour trying to get Iceland to sort out my Bonus Card after getting hacked and all funds £120, cleared out!

'Iceland have said I will have to wait for 28 days for a new card and then they will provide me with a refund!

'If you have been saving with Icelands Bonus card like me please take a moment to check it just in case.'

And another, Gloria, tagged Money Saving Expert Martin Lewis, saying: 'I followed your advice and topped up my Iceland bonus card with £100.

'Four days later it was withdrawn in Scotland!'

The company Money Saving Expert had mentioned the card in the newsletter - but said: 'Martin and MSE do not endorse or recommend any single product or service.

'The Iceland card was just mentioned as part of a round-up of the upcoming supermarket Christmas schemes.'

It comes five years after Iceland customers were hit by another security breach on their bonus cards.

The supermarket wrote to affected customers in November 2018, saying it was 'confident' no-one had lost money.

They said: 'Although Iceland systems have not been hacked, criminals have used stolen login and passwords from other security breaches. This is possible because you have used the same password on multiple websites.'