Mary Holm has spent the last 40 years writing and talking money, but has warned followers about an online scam account impersonating her. Photo / Supplied
Mary Holm has spent the last 40 years writing and talking money, but has warned followers about an online scam account impersonating her. Photo / Supplied
Freelance journalist Mary Holm, ONZM, has issued a warning to followers of her weekly NZ Herald column to stay away from a Facebook account impersonating her.
The public page has amassed at least 1200 followers and likes since it was created on November 5, 2023 by someone named Dougherty JeffreySaige.
However, the name of the account has been changed twice, and was only recently changed to “Mary Holm” yesterday.
Holm was alerted to the account by followers of her column who came across the page and a post claiming to be her.
“I just feel a bit sick about people sending money because they think they can trust me,” Holm said.
“It’s absolutely not me. I would never get involved in something like that, and asking people to invest, that’s not what I do. I’m a journalist, I’m not out to make money out of people like that.”
The post, which has since been deleted and is only accessible by link, offers an introduction to Holm and her background before asking viewers to join her page.
A Facebook account that has amassed 1200 followers is impersonating NZ Herald columnist Mary Holm.
“To help more investors seize these opportunities, I’ve created a community where I share practical, down-to-earth strategies – combining New Zealand insights with US and global asset allocation. The goal is to grow wealth steadily, without chasing market bubbles,” the post said.
“Together, we can learn how to build true financial freedom through discipline, diversification, and patience – rather than being led astray by short-term market noise.“
The page then asks viewers to answer three questions before being able to join: whether they have any experience in stock investing, how much capital they have available to invest in the stock market and what kind of annual return they are hoping to achieve with the page’s help.
The last of those questions was, in Holm’s opinion, a dead giveaway.
“It’s written largely in my sort of style, which makes it all the more creepy somehow.
“The thing that I would hope my regular readers would say is when it says what return are you after, the choices are 10 to 20%, 20 to 30%, and 30 to 45%. Any regular reader of my column would know that I would never be suggesting that we can get returns like that.”
The post received 74 likes and seven comments before it was hidden, with three visible comments sharing their interest in the page.
From looking at the page’s followers, many appear to be based overseas, although the page creator’s location has also been hidden.
Holm said two people had sent her different links to posts from the page, in which one had a comment asking why the page uses a UK-based phone number.
She has written to Meta, which owns Facebook, asking if the page can be taken down, and has also contacted NetSafe.
Holm said she has no plans to join social media or launch a scheme like the page poses as being any time soon.
“If I were to ever want to do something like this, you’d hear it from me in my column.”
Other victims
Earlier this week, former economist and investment manager Gareth Morgan warned Kiwis to be careful of a deepfake of him circulating on social media offering “crass” financial advice.
“Please be aware that there are a series of deepfake posts and videos of me presenting some pretty crass investment advice,” Morgan posted on Facebook.
“These are the product of some scumbag trying to elicit funds from you so it would be great if you could delete and report them as spam.
“I hope nobody falls victim to the work of such lowlife players on the international web.”
Morgan said he first heard about the deepfake scam from his daughter, after an advertisement featuring him came across her feed.
The Financial Markets Authority (FMA) – Te Mana Tātai Hokohoko has issued a warning after a surge of impersonator social media investment scams, and will continue to update its warnings as the scam develops.
FMA executive director of licencing and conduct supervision Clare Bolingford said it was concerning to see these impersonations featuring New Zealand journalists, politicians, actors, business people and financial commentators.
“Impersonating business leaders and commentators is a new feature of this type of scam, and they include deepfake videos that look realistic,” Bolingford said.
“This surge of deepfake images and videos means that people should be very cautious of anyone on social media promoting investments.”
Bolingford said the impersonations of public figures in scams is not unique to New Zealand, noting they are carried out all over the world.
“The names and faces keep changing, but the promise of investment platforms and easy money, resulting in New Zealanders being scammed out of their savings, remain the same.”
“The FMA is warning the public about this scam to help investors and consumers understand how the scam operates, make informed decisions and take steps to protect themselves.”
This latest version of the scam comes after previous FMA warnings issued about online impersonation of politicians and media identities that have surfaced in the last 18 months.
Tom Raynel is a multimedia business journalist for the Herald, covering small business, retail and tourism.
