People need to be on their guard as scammers get more sophisticated. Photo / 123RF
A Ngunguru woman is warning others after nearly falling for a sophisticated new IRD phone scam.
Beth, who did not want her last name published, said the man who rang her on Friday afternoon was nothing like the usual scammers who ring her.
"On the landline phone, I got a call from a pretty well-spoken guy. He called me Elizabeth and said he was from the unclaimed money division of the IRD."
He sounded legitimate, she said, particularly as he had her and her husband's IRD numbers. Unlike the scam phone calls Beth is used to, there was no delay and the call appeared to come from an 04 number in Wellington.
"He identified himself with his staff number and he gave all his details. He was quite well-spoken, not like the ones you normally just hang up on."
The scammer claimed former Prime Minister John Key set up a ballot in 2008 where people could be selected to receive unclaimed money from the IRD, and she had been selected to receive $6400.
The unclaimed money division of the IRD exists but the ballot does not.
Beth gave the scammer her driver's licence number and version number that he claimed he needed to make sure he was talking to the right person.
"He said that it's not well-known and not to tell anyone, which it turns out is what they all say."
The red flag for Beth only came when a woman rang claiming to be from her bank, saying she would need to set up a new account and transfer money into it before she could receive the IRD money.
"I just hung up the phone and said to [my husband] this is a scam."
Beth then rang her bank to ask if the woman worked for them and was told she did not.
Although Beth did not lose any money, she had to cancel her driver's licence and freeze her online banking.
"It's just been a pain in the arse. I've still got my account frozen."
The scammers continued to ring her during the weekend from various phone numbers. In one case, a call appeared to come from her husband's number, although he was with her at the time.
Whangārei Police Senior Sergeant James Calvert said most scams originated offshore but they had the ability to disguise their phone numbers or appear to be calling from elsewhere.
"It just speaks to the sophistication of the scam, the effort they go to to try and get money from you," Calvert said.
Calvert said he had not seen many scams of this specific type, but often they are not reported to the police.
He was unsure how the scammers got Beth's IRD number but said there were several ways it could be done.
"The first thing that comes to mind is stolen mail or even lost mail."
He added that there have been a number of online data breaches in recent years, however, which is another way scammers can gain information.
Calvert said Beth did the right thing by questioning the people who rang her and refusing to transfer any money.
"The big red flag is when someone asks you to transfer your money."
Beth said the fact that the call came late on a Friday afternoon made it more difficult to get in touch with the IRD or her bank to check if the call was genuine.
The police warned about a scam from callers pretending to be from the IRD in October last year, but in that case they were asking for credit card details, rather than a bank transfer.
• For more safety advice visit the Neighbourhood Support New Zealand website.