Air Miles investigating after finding thieves stole miles from members

Air Miles is warning members that thieves have managed to steal cash miles from some collectors when they used their points to buy products in stores. The rewards program says the theft only occurred in a “small number” of retail transactions.

Air Miles reports that it’s now in the early stages of investigating the theft. “We are working diligently to resolve the situation and have already contacted our retail partners, the police and the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre,” it said in a statement to members.

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To protect collectors, Air Miles has temporarily halted the option that allowed members can to their cash miles to buy products at participating retailers, such as gas at Shell, groceries at Sobeys or drug store items at Rexall. Collectors can still use their cash miles to buy gift cards online for participating stores.

Air Miles is also advising members to protect themselves by keeping private both their collector and PIN numbers for their account. 

The program says members’ personal information remains protected and has not been compromised as part of the theft.

When members collect miles, they can designate them as either dream or cash miles. Dream miles can be used to get rewards like vacations and merchandise. Cash miles are used solely to get products from participating retailers. Often, 95 reward miles equals $10 off a purchase. 

Air Miles says that the rewards program has more than 11 million active collector accounts.