GRAND RAPIDS, Mich — Jessie Rezba likes to save money on groceries when she can. When she shops at Meijer, she often saves up her mPerks points to exchange for dollars off her purchases.
Earlier this year, she had about 50,000 saved up, which means she had $50 off. However, when she logged in to her account, all her points were gone.
"I'm like, I didn't redeem the points," Rezba said.
She investigated and found an in-store purchase for a store she had never been to.
"I saw an in-store order at a store that's like 100 miles away, I don't even know where the address is, for cologne," Rezba said. "Thinking, weird. So, my $50 turned into a $50 perfume bottle at a store I've never stepped foot and didn't know what existed."
Someone else had used her mPerks account information to cash in her points.
"I lost my money," Rezba said.
Multiple others have posted on social media claiming similar situations. It has also happened to a handful of 13 ON YOUR SIDE employees.
Michigan Attorney General's office said they're aware of these reports concerning the mPerks program. The office has a task force actively investigating. They're working with the Michigan State Police fraud team and corporate investigators from Meijer.
Meijer changed its mPerks system earlier this year to the current model. It allows shoppers to earn points for every dollar spent, with exceptions.
In a statement, a spokesperson for Meijer said:
"Like any digital program with a login, we occasionally see examples of suspicious activity but thankfully they are isolated situations and we quickly help any customer who has been affected."
Thankfully for Rezba, one phone call was all it took to restore her mPerks points.
"Meijer made it right immediately once I called them," Rezba said.
However, she still has questions about how people were able to access her account information.
"How did somebody know my pin that went with my account?" Rezba said. "I just kind of hope that Meijer just says, 'Hey, we acknowledge this happened, and is happening, and we're making sure that it's not going to happen to other people.'"
To check if your points were used, check out the point history in the mPerks app. Also, search through in-store purchases to see if there are any purchases you did not make.
To report fraudulent activity to Meijer, call 1-877-363-4537.
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