A huge variety of scams are doing the rounds. They mostly have one thing in common - a desire to part targets from money. Photo / Supplied
Summertime is peak scam time as crooks conjure up every possible con to enrich themselves.
After Christmas, some scammers who didn’t get a windfall from yuletide cons try their luck in the New Year.
Some confidence tricks are increasingly sophisticated, and every possible platform is used to deploy scams.
Government cybersecurity agency Cert NZ recorded a huge jump in online fraud, with scammers taking nearly $9 million from unsuspecting victims in the third quarter of 2022.
But that number was likely a big undercount, as not all victims reported scams. And agencies have warned the public of scam activity heating up in summer.
One plausible-looking scam is an email con where people purport to be from Spark, and send a “bill”.
One recent scam used Spark branding and warned “last reminder: Here’s this month’s Spark bill”.
But another email on New Year’s Day told recipients: “Your account is in credit, thanks.”
The big telco has warned the public about the scam.
“These are not legitimate communications from Spark and we strongly encourage you not to click on any links in the email if you receive one,” Spark said.
“The due date on the Spark bill will always be approximately 14 days from the receipt of the bill.”
In the scam, the due date appeared to be one day away which indicated the bill was fake. But the scam had other telltale signs, Spark said.
“If the number in the email is different from your account number, this would indicate that the bill is not genuine.”
Spark said in a genuine bill, the amount owing would always match the amount shown on a customer’s Spark app and in MySpark.
“If the amount in the email is different, this indicates that the bill is not genuine.”
The company advised customers to always check the Spark app or MySpark to verify due dates, account numbers, and the actual amount owing.
Online shopping scams
In the lead-up to summer holidays, Te Tari Taiwhenua Department of Internal Affairs (DIA) had hundreds of complaints about large-scale phishing scams.
“A recent scam involves people being sent a text message with a link to a website that can be used to gain the recipient’s financial information. Engaging with these messages results in significant financial loss.”
The DIA urged scam victims to contact the bank and lodge a complaint with police.
“One of the most common scams will see the sender attempt to entice the recipient to click on a link to confirm their ‘stuck delivery’.”
The recipient was then directed to a payment order form for a charge of $2-3 to proceed further.
“If the recipient provides their details, the scammer will use their credentials to log in and steal money from the target’s account, or on-sell the credentials to others.”
People should never click hyperlinks on text messages from an unknown sender.
“Simply report the text spam for free on your phone by forwarding the spam text message to 7726,” Internal Affairs added.
Diet scams
Many people resolved to lose weight in the new year, but could instead lose money to diet scams.
Westpac has warned customers about scammers targeting people who want to lose weight.
“These ads promise great results and often include legitimate-sounding reviews about miracle results or celebrity endorsements.”
Westpac said some people were persuaded to hand over money but ended up with a fake product, or nothing at all.
The bank urged people to be wary of weight loss or health claims that seemed too good to be true.
Unpleasant packages
Those running late with Christmas presents, or hoping to snap up some of the unwanted gifts other people were putting online now, should also take heed of scams.
Westpac said scammers might ask people to pay for online goods which were never delivered.
People were urged to be wary of odd payment methods on online marketplaces, and be wary of trading if a seller had a fairly new profile, bad feedback or few friend connections.
“Be wary if you’re asked to complete a trade off-platform,” the bank added.
If a parcel is stolen after NZ Post completed delivery of the item, the theft became a police matter and people should report the theft to police.
If people do have deliveries made to the home, police urge people to be there and sign for the deliveries, or have a secure location where parcels can be left.
It was useful to have clear delivery instructions and ask for packages not to be placed at a front door, or on top of an apartment building post box.
Text scams
Some people have reported their phone or email inboxes receiving an unusually high number of strange or dubious messages recently.
Numerous unsolicited parcel delivery texts have been doing the rounds,
“Welcome, your parcel was delivered ... to our drop-off center. Confirm your pick-up here,” one said, with a URL in the message.
As Internal Affairs advised, people should not click on the link.
Other suspicious messages take advantage of changing workplace habits.
One message circulating in recent weeks said: “You are selected to [work from home] and we will pay 30-50 hours to accept this vacancy.”
Romance scams
Catfishing is another popular holiday season scam.
The romance scam involves people impersonating a handsome or beautiful suitor, and using charm and deception to get money out of a target.
A reformed catfish scammer last month told the Herald he tricked a woman out of tens of thousands of dollars.
He advised people not to look for love online, but if they insisted, to always request videocalls to verify the identity of their online contacts.
Facebook page ‘warnings’
Another dubious message is an email claiming to warn people about a copyright breach involving Facebook pages.
“Our team came to the conclusion that your page violates our service standards,” the message reads.
“Your website’s background audio or video appears to be copyrighted and held by a third party,” it adds.
“If you continue to abuse Facebook’s services, your account may be permanently terminated.”
The message then says if the recipient believes the Facebook page was incorrectly reported, people should click on a link in the message.
The ‘appointment’ email
Phishing emails trick people into handing over personal information, sensitive details, or installing malware.
One possible phishing expedition involves an unknown sender asking a recipient to confirm the existence of their email address.
“Trust you are doing well. We tried to reach you on the phone number on file but unfortunately it was unreachable, hence we decided to contact you via email,” the message reads.
“Please confirm your email is active by responding back. Hope to hear from you soon.”
Puppy scams
Even cute pets and people longing for a new puppy can be fodder for con artists.
Police have warned people to take care when buying puppies online.
Sometimes there are people selling puppies which don’t exist,” police said.
“Some online trading sites and fake websites have been set up to sell puppies to buyers, sight-unseen.”
Cops added: “They can be sought-after and popular breeds such as English bulldogs, huskies, Staffordshire bull terriers, to Maltese, and even toy poodles.”
Sellers claimed the puppies were fully vaccinated and potty trained, and a fake seller was unlikely to let people view the puppy before purchase.
Some crooks even claimed to have “their own delivery service” when seeking to justify why no viewing was possible, police added.
“In the past, sellers have suggested paying for a ‘change of ownership’ document for each purchased puppy, which is not a thing in New Zealand.”
People should do extensive research on puppy sellers before paying money to anyone.
Regardless of the scam type, police say in online fraud cases, the first 24 hours after the incident are critical for investigating officers.
Detective Sergeant Mike Freeman urged all fraud victims to act fast when reporting the incident to their bank and police.
“Some people will try to fix the problem themselves before seeking help and may inadvertently get themselves deeper in a hole,” Freeman said.
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