Grey Lynn peeping tom strikes again

The man is understood to have images or film of several people on his cellphone. Photo / Getty Images

The Grey Lynn peeping tom has struck again.

Auckland police are alerting residents to be vigilant about their security while they investigate further reports of a prowler in the area.

It comes after the Herald reported in March that a tech-savvy pervert was taking advantage of Auckland's hot and sticky nights to reach through open windows and film people.

The man is understood to have images or film of several people on his cellphone, which he lost in a scuffle with a rattled victim.

Police said they were called to a house in Grey Lynn about 11pm yesterday after a resident reported a man using a cellphone to film occupants through a window.

The offender fled.

A police dog and handler attempted to track the man down, but he could not be found.

Police believe it is highly likely the offender is the same man who struck in Grey Lynn in February and March. He reached through a window to film occupants on a least one occasion.

Detective senior sergeant Marcia Murray said an accurate description of the offender had not yet been obtained.

"Because this is happening late at night it is dark and so not the best visibility," she said.

Ms Murray said police were following lines of inquiry but in the meantime they were reminding people to remain vigilant of home security and to report all sightings of suspicious people in the area to 111.

"Unfortunately there are people who will take advantage of situations where windows aren't adequately locked, or where curtains or blinds are open," Ms Murray said.

"The weather remains quite warm so people may choose to keep windows open but we'd encourage everyone to think about putting windows on a security lock, just to be sure."

The Herald has previously reported that on February 25 a Grey Lynn woman saw a forearm hanging through her open window. The man was holding a cellphone and filming her.

The woman ran over and hit the man's arm to make him go away. The cellphone dropped to the floor and was later handed to police, who found images of several people on the phone.

The woman had left her window ajar to try to get cooler air circulating during Auckland's nightly heatwave.

Police were aware of similar incidents in the same week.

University of Canterbury criminologist Professor Greg Newbold said at the time incidents such as this were likely to happen because of the prevalence of cellphones.

The latest available figures from the Ministry of Justice show 128 people were convicted of offences relating to intimate visual recordings in the five years to 2014.