More Rewards loyalty program confirms customer data breach
The breach, discovered on Tuesday, accessed names, addresses, phone numbers, email addresses and dates of birth.
Personal information of customers in the More Rewards loyalty program was accessed in a cybersecurity breach this week, the company confirmed.
"We confirmed Friday that customers’ personal information on the More Rewards database was accessed," the company said in a statement to Global News.
"The information includes name, and, if provided, address, phone number, email addresses, and date of birth."
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The Pattison Food Group, which operates the program, said it discovered unusual activity on one of its servers on Tuesday.
"Our team discovered unauthorized activity occurring on one of our servers on Oct. 13 and took immediate action that day to shut down the server and launch an investigation with a third-party cybersecurity expert," More Rewards said in an email to affected card members.
"The incident was quickly contained, and we are in the process of notifying the appropriate authorities and privacy regulators."
"Based on the information available to us, no other personal information (e.g., passwords, credit card data, or transaction history) was accessed, and the More Rewards accounts themselves remain secure," the company confirmed.
More Rewards is used at Save On Foods, Buy Low Foods, PriceSmart Foods, Nesters and Quality Foods on Vancouver Island.
The company said the incident is contained and the appropriate authorities and privacy regulators have been notified.
It has not disclosed how many customers were affected.
Some customers received emails on Friday informing them their data was accessed.
The emails warned about potential scams and advised caution.
"We will never contact you for sensitive information such as your password, verification codes, banking or payment card information, Social Insurance Number, or security question answers," the emails read.
"If you receive communication that appears to be from us or anyone else requesting sensitive personal information or asking you to click on a link or open an attachment that you were not expecting, we encourage you to verify the request using contact information you know to be legitimate, and not any contact information included in such request."
The company said it takes its responsibility to protect personal information seriously and regrets any inconvenience.
"We take our responsibility to protect personal information seriously and regret any inconvenience this may cause," the company added.
The breach comes as Canadian regulators are examining other major data exposures.
The company has set up a dedicated customer service line at 1-833-690-1146 for members with questions.
With files from BNN Bloomberg, Global News and Castanet