Loyalty card points are being stolen by cyber criminals in a £300million black market - with the Boots Advantage and Nectar card schemes among those being targeted.
One in 20 Brits are said to have been affected by 'points bandits' who use artificial intelligence to generate random card numbers to eventually find a valid one.
Gangs can then create fake barcodes and steal the points from customers who have an estimated £6billion of unclaimed loyalty points on cards in the UK.
Cyber crime expert Frank Teruel, chief operating officer from anti-cyber crime platform Arkose Labs, told The Sun on Sunday: 'This is loyalty card cyber warfare.
'It's the same as taking cash. But here's the difference - if you walk into a Lloyds branch in London and steal some money, you'll probably be caught and go to prison.
