Scam victim: 'I knew it was too good to be true'

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A man who lost $3000 on a scam knew it was too good to be true but invested anyway, police say.

Waikato police have charged a 29-year-old man with fraud after an investigation into the activities of a company director for Excel Trading Ltd who is also linked to two other companies, Simcom Trading Group Ltd and Smart Trading Solutions.

He will appear in Hamilton District Court on August 30.

"It appears the man cold-called people at random advising them of an arbitrage betting scheme linked to a legitimate Australian sports betting agency.

"Victims were contacted through business accounts and advised that if they paid $5,600 or, a percentage of that, they stood to make a promised return of up to $10,000 within six months," Detective Michael Handley said.

Mr Handley said checks with the Australian company showed legitimate profits were possible from the investments but it appears the victims' money was used to pay for the offender's living expenses and when the investors went to query their investment they were unable to contact their New Zealand-based 'agent'.

"It appears $1,000 of their investment was paid to the Australian agency while the agent pocketed the rest and by the time they realised they'd been duped he was gone," he said.

"One man said he knew the deal offered was too good to be true and said he could only afford to pay $3,000. He was told his return would only be $10,000 as opposed to the $20,000 promised to other investors. He invested his money anyway and lost it all."

Mr Handley said the story was the same for the other investors, located between Auckland and Christchurch, who had invested into the scam.

"As a result we're seeking information on this man's activities and the involvement of these companies and would like to speak to anyone who may have been in contact with him.

"We're also working closely with the TradeMe website team in relation to the offender offering a number of iPhones for sale under the user ID 'iphonesdirectnz' in which bidders purchased devices, paid their money and never received their goods."

Mr Handley said anyone who thought they had been a victim of either scam was asked to contact him via the Hamilton Central Police Station on 07 858 6200.