Kiwis facing more scams day by day

New Zealanders are subject to scams daily with one of the most popular being phishing. It is the type of scam mostly sent to email addresses and mobile numbers.

Phishing scammers reach out to victims, trying to encourage them to click a link, for example ‘your bank account has been compromised, click here to change your password’ which if filled out can lead to credential harvesting and breaches of your personal information.

Rob Pope from Cert NZ (an organization that supports businesses and individuals affected by scams) thinks we are seeing an evolution and says we need to be extra careful.  Comparing how attackers have evolved from the Nigerian prince type scams, Pope says they are much more precise with English language, and even Te Reo is being used, making it harder to spot the difference.

Another scam Kiwis need to look out for is online scams, which means people need to be careful who and where they purchase products from. One Christchurch resident, who prefers to remain anonymous, fell prey to one of these scams after purchasing an item from a new website she had not shopped on before. A while after not receiving her order she checked her bank balance where she noticed small amounts of money had been taken out totalling nearly $1000 in lost money. Thankfully for her, she was able to receive most of the money back through her bank, but this is not always the case.

Key to avoiding online scams is to make sure the website is safe: do your research. Are there any reviews online for this place? Are they positive? If there are no reviews for this website that nobody has seen before, it is more likely than not an unsafe website, Pope says.

The main thing is not to feel pressured into making a decision which many people regret. Attackers use pressure situations and urgency to allow the adrenaline to overtake a decision.

If you feel at risk or are concerned you can lodge a complaint at www.cert.govt.nz, or call your local bank for assistance.