Two Ontarians lose hundreds of thousands of Aeroplan points after hack

Two Ontario men say they were shocked when their Aeroplan accounts were hacked and their loyalty points were stolen.

“It's just unbelievable that in one day almost 400,00 points were transacted and taken from my account,” said Ritwik Ray of Toronto.

Ray had been collecting Aeroplan miles for 35 years and a few months ago when he checked his account he was shocked to see it was almost empty.

"In December we looked at it and we only had six or seven thousand points left. I’m just hoping I can get them back," said Ray.

Richard Chan of Markham, Ont. is also a long time collector of Aeroplan miles and was shocked when his 105,000 points disappeared from his Aeroplan account.

“I spent over 100,000 dollars to get those 100,000 points,” said Chan who added “the worst part really is that Aeroplan refused to answer phone calls and they are not addressing this issue which is unbelievable."

Aeroplan is now owned and operated by Air Canada and the airline blames part of the problem on weak passwords and its clients getting caught in phishing scams. In both cases Ray and Chan had their points stolen by thieves who redeemed their points for gift cards.

“We have looked into this and concluded both customers were victims of fraud," a spokesperson for Air Canada told CTV News Toronto. "Internet fraud such as this, including password theft and account hacking, does occur with all online businesses.”

“To help protect our members, we continually remind them of safety protocols, including the benefits of regularly changing and updating passwords. Whenever possible ensure Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) is enabled on your online accounts. Passwords should never be the same for multiple services and customers should ensure the password being used is strong and not easy to guess.”

After CTV News reached out to Air Canada the company added that, “all fraudulently redeemed points have since been returned to the customers.”

That was good news for both Ritwik and Ray who are anxious to book a trip with their Aeroplan points.

“I'm so glad to have my points reinstated” said Ray and Chan added “I have already booked a flight.”

Thieves are also targeting other loyalty programs so if you’re sent an e-mail or text asking you to click on a link make sure it's the actual program you belong too and not a phishing scam.