Online shoppers warned of phishing scams

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If you are going online in your search for Christmas presents, keep your wits about you.

New Zealand Bankers' Association chief executive Kirk Hope said online shoppers can be targeted by phishing scams, with fraudsters posing as the victim's bank and requesting their details by email.

"Requesting personal details, things like PINs and passwords.

"Banks never ask their customers for that sort of information via email, so if you see something like that you probably should be very wary and just delete the email."

Mr Hope said this time of year always sees a spike in direct attacks on shoppers' EFTPOS and credit cards offline too.

"Guard your card, whether it be a debit card or a credit card.

"Treat it like cash. Cover up, shield your PIN entry when you're using ATMs and EFTPOS terminals."