Over the past few days, dozens of Woolworths customers have reported that their gift cards were used by someone other than themselves.
Claims of unauthorised gift card use first appeared on OzBargain on Wednesday afternoon and have since been followed by similar complaints across Facebook and Reddit.
Some users have reportedly lost as much as $500. Many have also said that their gift cards were used at stores located in other Australian states.
We reached out to Woolworths but they did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Affected gift cards
All of the cases appear to involve Everyday WISH gift cards (redeemable at Woolworths, Big W, BWS, Dan Murphy’s etc) purchased through the Everyday Gifting website or Everyday Rewards app.
Everyday WISH gift cards are currently included in a popular 4% off promotion on Everyday Gifting which may explain why they are so heavily represented in these reports of fraudulent use.
Until the exact nature of the issue is known, it would not be unreasonable to assume that other Woolworths Group gift cards (e.g. Woolworths Supermarket, Big W, BWS etc) may also be affected, even if purchased from a third-party gift card store.
As these are all digital gift cards, this issue is distinct from the ongoing problem of physical gift card tampering that affects gift cards sold in-store at Woolworths and other retailers.
Check your balances
If you have Everyday WISH or other Woolworths Group gift cards, it is highly recommended that you check their balances now.
If you do notice any suspicious activity on your gift cards, you should report it to the Everyday Gifting/Woolworths Gift Cards team via live chat, phone or email.
Featured image credit: GCDB, Woolworths Group
6 Responses
Anyone having issues with Everyday WISH cards purchased on Qantas Marketplace?
Just an FYI, I waited on hold to Woolworths gift card team for 1:30hr, then was advised to call qantas as it was purchased through them
What did Qantas say? Iv purchased mine through them also!
$500 gone from my Everyday WISH gift card in two transactions. Purchased through the Everyday rewards website (not app).
Yes we have had 2 x $500 WISH gift cards spent in a BigW in a different State.
Given this is woolworths they probably generate the gift card numbers in an easy to predict way and let them be spent with no authentication.