David Jones collapse: What to do if you've got a gift card

Customers urged to act quickly as David Jones goes into administration, an opportunity to get a grocery discount with your home loan and Vinted users lose thousands of dollars to scammers. Here are five money stories you may have missed this week.

1. What to do if you've got a David Jones gift card

Anyone with a David Jones gift voucher is being urged to spend it as soon as possible, after the 188-year-old department store went into administration this week.

Fears for the retailer's future came true yesterday, when David Jones announced administrators and receivers had been appointed to run its business.

The appointments came after reports the storied company had been unable to pay landlords and suppliers.

Administrators and receivers are currently working out if David Jones can continue operating.

If they decide to close the business, they'll focus on distributing any leftover cash to 'secured creditors': in other words, David Jones' biggest business partners.

Experts say ordinary consumers with a gift card for the retailer will be last in line for a cut.

"Use that gift card right now or risk not being able to claim that cash at all," says Jana Bowden, professor of marketing at Macquarie University.

"If you've got a gift card, you are an unsecured creditor," she says. "You will be on the bottom rung and the last to receive anything, so use it now".

Anyone with a gift card can register with administrators as an unsecured creditor.

But Professor Bowden describes the chance of this resulting in a payout as 'extremely small'.

2. Woolworths announces home loan partnership

Woolworths is promising homeowners the chance to earn up to $2000 worth of loyalty program points after it partnered with mortgage broking platform Middle.

In what the supermarket says is an industry-leading move, Everyday Rewards members will get points for taking out loans they find through the platform.

Members will get up to 250,000 Everyday Rewards points every time they settle an eligible new home loan through a broker they find through Middle.

They'll then get 30,000 points each year they keep the loan, for up to five years.

Woolworths says this total points windfall will be worth $2000.

Everyday Rewards points can be redeemed for discounts at Woolworths stores and outlets operated by partner businesses.

The new partnership comes after some have questioned the value of supermarket loyalty schemes.

Even free tiers have been found to sometimes cost consumers by encouraging them to consistently shop at the same store, instead of at cheaper competitors.

3. Thousands lost to Vinted scammers

Aussies selling items on Vinted have lost thousands of dollars to scammers impersonating the popular online secondhand marketplace.

IDCARE received more than 130 reports of scammers impersonating Vinted between July and September, with victims losing $2200 on average.

The cyber support service says criminals are sending messages to people selling items on the platform, claiming they have a buyer.

The messages urge recipients to clink on a link to verify their account and confirm the sale.

These links lead to websites designed to look like legitimate payment platforms, where victims are told to provide their bank account and other sensitive details.

IDCARE is urging Vinted sellers to watch out for links sent through email or direct message and not to enter sensitive details on these pages.

Vinted only launched in Australia in July, but has become a popular forum for buying and selling secondhand clothes.

4. Crypto investors withdraw billions as North Korea blamed for mega theft

Cryptocurrency traders have withdrawn over $4.6 billion USD ($6.6 billion AUD) of their money from Binance after the exchange was infiltrated by North Korean hackers.

Binance began allowing withdrawals this week after it revealed $6.3 billion USD ($9 billion AUD) had been stolen by the hackers last week.

The heist, which some experts have described as the largest of its kind, has shaken global confidence in crypto.

But Binance says the amount customers withdrew following the theft represented just 2% of its total assets under management.

The company said the raid on its platform was carried out by IT operatives working for North Korea, who used fake job interviews to interact with Binance employees.

These hackers then gained access to employee computers, allowing them into Binance's systems.

Australian authorities in September warned North Korea was using fake job offers to connect with and exploit people working in the crypto industry.

Stolen cryptocurrency is considered one of North Korea's main sources of revenue.

5. ASIC threatens super funds over customer service failures

The corporate regulator has threatened to take legal action against Australia's superannuation funds if they don't improve how they handle member complaints.

The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) says many funds aren't paying close enough attention to concerns raised by members.

"Just because trustees don't identify broader problems affecting their members doesn't mean they aren't there," says ASIC commissioner, Simone Constant.

"Small problems left unidentified, unattended or unresolved can snowball into widespread failures that expose members to harm".

ASIC also accused funds of being too quick to blame their own members' lack of knowledge about super for the issues they were facing.

The regulator has already taken three super funds to court in recent years for offering poor service to members, including for being too slow to process death benefit claims.

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