The email, text and phone scams that are catching people out
Thursday, 6 July 2023
Scams are on the rise and no matter how confident you are that you can spot them, more and more people are falling victim.
Queenstown woman Savannah Jackson lost $42,000 through a BNZ fake text and several more customers of the bank have come forward sharing their financial strife.
So what are some of the common scams doing the rounds that you need to avoid?
Banks
The BNZ scam is just one of many circulating via text and email, with scammers pretending to be an automated bank message requiring the customer to log in to their internet banking account to resolve an issue.
The message includes a fake link which the hacker then uses to remove money from the account.
Examples of the message include: “Your BNZ account access has been placed on a temporary hold, go to [FAKE LINK] to resolve this issue.”
“Westpac: A new payee has been added 07/02. If you didn’t make this change please visit [FAKE LINK].”
Not only can the hackers take money from your account, but they can also infect devices with malware, collect your personal and banking details, or both.
If you believe you’ve fallen victim to a scam, contact your bank straight away.
Waka Kotahi
A number of Waka Kotahi text and email scams have been floating around for some time.
They include asking customers to pay a toll fee, renew their driver’s licence or renew their vehicle's registration.
More than 100,000 complaints about the toll text scam had been received in June.
The text reads “NZTA – you have an unpaid toll bill, [FAKE NZTA LINK]. Please check it before it affects your travel”, while the email asks people to pay their registration through a fake link which looks identical to the Waka Kotahi form.
The Department of Internal Affairs (DIA) said it had received 10,000 reports of an NZTA toll phishing scam that had been circulating in New Zealand since late 2022.
Waka Kotahi does not send text reminders.
The transport agency was also aware of scammers offering driver licences online or through social media. You must go to a Waka Kotahi driver licencing agent in person to apply for a driver licence. It cannot be done online.
NZ Post
NZ Post scams can come in a text message, email, phone call or letter with the aim of gaining access to your personal or financial details.
Common NZ Post scams include a text message notifying of an attempted delivery, asking people to click a fake link to reschedule, an email that states the customer needs to pay processing and delivery fees to receive a package and another asking for confirmation the courier can deliver a package.
The most recent scam is run via Facebook Messenger and involves a person called “NZ Post Customer Service” trying to verify details.
Inland Revenue
No, that text you just got from Inland Revenue (IR) about a tax refund is not legit.
Examples of the text scam include: “The Inland Revenue has attempted to transfer your tax rebate. To claim visit [FAKE LINK].”
“After further review, you are due a tax refund. Please visit and enter your details to process your payment at: [FAKE LINK]”.
IR does not send text messages from regular phone numbers. Instead, you'll get a text message from a four-digit code.
An email about tax refunds also features a number of grammatical errors and a made-up website link.
Police
NZ Police have warned about a text scam is circulating which says: “From NZ POLICE: In the last 12 months our records have shown a bank account number linked to this phone was incorrectly debited (10) times. If you are entitled to a refund a direct credit has been authorised to be refunded directly back to the account linked to this number.To finalise payment please visit: [FAKE POLICE WEBSITE].”