Points, Policies & Certificates

[bluestreak02]

I received a notification via text this afternoon that I had opted out of receiving account updates. I also received an email stating that I had made changes to my account. I have made no changes. So I logged in and found that someone had changed my email and had also updated my notification settings and turned them all off. But it gets worse....

I also found that they had redeemed all of my best buy rewards points out to the fake email they changed to! I had 29,631 points. They redeemed 29,500 of them and bought an iPad in my name on my best buy account. The purchase occurred in store in the state of Maryland. I live in Texas. I immediately called best buy support and opened a case and was given a case number. They told me theyd do "research" and get back to me in 5-7 business days. I can also see the purchase made on my best buy account. Which of course they paid the remaining balance in cash. Harder to trace. I NEVER BOUGHT AN IPAD. I saved a copy of the receipt for my record.

What I want now is my 29,500 points back that were stolen. I do not know what to do next. PLEASE HELP.

[bluestreak02]

I also forgot to add that I did correct all of my information and re-applied all of the notifications. I also tightened up my security settings and updated my password. But this person now has my best but member ID. They probably also have my name and potentially my phone number too. What is to prevent them from using this information again in store to make fraudulent purchases in my name just by providing an associate my account number or phone number.

My best buy credit card was linked to my account but they deleted it. I called and had a new card issued just in case anyways. But that card gets automatically linked to my best buy. What would prevent them from making fraud charges even on my new card?

Do I need a new my best buy member ID issued now?

This whole situation is extremely upsetting.

[cbart13]

@bluestreak02 

This same thing happened to me this afternoon too at a Store in Maryland (Glen Burnie). They stole 25,000 points and bought an Ipad. I have the reciept as well and better yet even the Serial Number of the Ipad (don't know how to report it stolen or I would).

I called Best Buy, changed password, and turned on 2 factor. They are working to restore my points but I have followed up after it did not restore in 15 minutes as stated and they are really backed up. This may be a bigger issue. There are also some reports on the Foums of this happenein in Novenber last year and January this year. 

It is a huge pain to get a new account and migrate it, but I might have to look into that, but it won't solve the problem of the scammer just knowing my phone number and taking my points in storeas BBY does no check IDs for rewards redemption, anyone can take anyones points.

Let us know what happens and I will update as well.

[Alex-BBY Social Media Specialist]

Hello, bluesteak02,

Welcome to the Best Buy Forums!

We appreciate you taking the time to reach out regarding your My Best Buy account, although it's very concerning about your account being accessed by someone else. I would love to assist and see what's possible. To start, any credit card saved to an account will delete if the account password is changed, it's per our security. Can you please send over a private message with your full name, phone number and email address? You can click on "Private Message" next to my signature.

Thank you,

[hockeycanuckjc Community Veteran]

I'm just thinking out loud here. Many department stores that offer a private label credit card would be able to look you up in their system to charge your purchase. However this requires going through a cashier or a customer service desk who would request ID in this case.

Not sure if Best Buy allows this but I'm pretty sure it could be limited to new applications at the time of signup. 

I did this once at Macy's as I forgot my store card and they looked me up based on my ID. 

[bluestreak02]

What best buy does, at least in my experience, is they can look up your store loyalty (my best buy) account via your phone number or you give them the membership ID. From there they may or may not tell you that you have X amount of rewards would you like to use them or ask you if you'd like to use your best buy credit card for the purchase. From there, that person can tell them to apply whatever rewards are available and this will go completely uncontested. But if they wanted to make a fraud charge on my card, they'd still have to produce the physical card.

That's what makes this so concerning is that since they hacked my account, at the very least they definitely have my membership ID because it printed out on the receipt. It's a very reasonable assumption that they probably also have my name, address, and phone number too being that they were able to get into my actual account.

[Kbkidsdaycare]

Me too Maryland that store and others. It must be an inside job. I changed the phone number and email and they did it again for a third time. One rep even accused me of leaking my information. I didn’t do anything wrong.

[Kbkidsdaycare]

They are calling Into the 1800 number to change the email to get into your account. They did it one time while I was on the phone with the rep.

[Ravi-BBY Social Media Specialist]

Hi there, Kbkidsdaycare,

Thanks for reaching out to us here on Best Buy Forums. I can certainly understand your concern with protecting your online account. This is certainly a concerning matter. If you require further assistance on this, please send me a private message with your full name, phone number, and email address, along with your My Best Buy number.