Do you know how many Petro-Points you’ve collected?
Windsor resident Harvey Lemire does — and that’s why he knows $140 worth of his Petro-Points have disappeared without explanation.
Now he’s advising people with a Petro-Canada card — or membership in any similar loyalty program — to check their point balances.
“I don’t want to see other people get taken advantage of,” Lemire told CBC Windsor. “Just so everybody is aware of what’s happening with your points. Whether it be Tim Hortons, Petro-Points, or any other redeemable points.”
Lemire says he’s been collecting Petro-Points for years. He saves them to buy car washes, and he keeps track on the Petro-Canada website of how many he’s earned.
In late December, Lemire noticed his point balance had suddenly fallen. Further investigation on the Petro-Canada website revealed that $70 worth of his points had been redeemed on two separate occasions at Petro-Canada locations he didn’t know.
“Petro-Canada has a location number they put next to where you redeemed (the points). You can tell common numbers in the Windsor area here. There were two numbers that did not match up,” Lemire said.
“I knew that I didn’t redeem those $70, or $140 total. And unfortunately, Petro-Canada could not give me that information. They said they were unable to tell me where the store locations were off of those numbers.”
As of Jan. 27, Lemire still hasn’t gotten his points restored, despite weeks of trying with Petro-Canada. But he’s hopeful his latest correspondence with Petro-Canada’s owner, Suncor, will lead to a solution.
“Well, with big corporations like Petro-Canada, you’d think that you would be safe to bank these points and redeem them at your leisure,” Lemire said.
Suncor did not respond to CBC Windsor’s request for comment.
Jennifer Matthews, CEO of the Better Business Bureau of Western Ontario, says Lemire’s story is one that her organization has been hearing for years — not just in relation to Petro-Points, but many other loyalty programs.
In 2023, thieves stole $1,000 of PC Optimum points — the loyalty program associated with Loblaw stores like Shoppers Drug Mart — from a Vancouver woman, and in 2024 scammers stole 100,000 Aeroplan points from a Montreal woman.
According to Matthews, the issue is often the result of a cybersecurity breach.
“Our loyalty points are digital, linked to our email or linked to our cellphone. And we know that’s how scammers and fraudsters try to gain access to information and assets such as loyalty points,” she said.
For best use of loyalty cards, Matthews advises the public to practice good “cyberhygiene” — two-factor authentication whenever possible, regular account password changes, and avoidance of any suspicious links or files in messages.
Asked if people should avoid “banking” loyalty points — accumulating a large amount for a big future redemption — Matthews said: “You do open yourself up to a larger loss, if you’ve banked hundreds of dollars (worth of points). And I know people who’ve banked thousands.”
“I definitely am a user of loyalty programs, across multiple platforms,” Matthews said.
As for Lemire, he says he’ll continue to collect Petro-Points, despite this issue and his warning to the public.
“Yeah, I will still probably bank as many as I can,” Lemire said. “Hopefully, people get smarter and maybe systems are put in place that help correct these problems.”
