Boots, a health and beauty retailer and pharmacy chain in the UK, has suspended payments using loyalty points in shops and online after attempts to break into customers’ accounts using stolen passwords.
Customers will not be able to use Boots Advantage Card points to pay for products while the issue is dealt with, according to BBC. A spokeswoman for Boots told the BBC the issue affected less than 1% of the company’s 14.4 million active Advantage Cards - fewer than 150,000 people.
However, the retailer said none of its own systems were compromised, but attackers had tried to access accounts using reused passwords from other sites. The incident comes days after a similar issue hit 600,000 Tesco Clubcard holders.
The Boots Advantage card lets shoppers collect four points for every GBP 1 spent, and each point is worth a penny. For example, a card with 200 points could be used to pay for an item worth GBP 2. Customers can still earn points when making purchases, and Boots hopes to have point payments back up as soon as possible, the online publication added.
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