Scammers busy during holiday season

'Tis the season to be scammed warns the Commerce Commission after a spate of chain letters, lottery schemes and text hoaxes.

The commission is warning consumers to be wary of offers that seem too good to be true, because they probably are.

Director of fair trading Deborah Battell said the commission had recently issued nine warnings to individuals involved in the "David Rhodes" chain letter scheme -- which claims that $218 can be turned into $77,760 in 60 days.

"The letter asks recipients to send $10 to the person on the top of the list, to add their own name to number five on the list and then to forward the letter with the same instructions to 200 contacts. It estimates the cost of photocopying and postage to be $218, with a total profit of $77,542," she said.

Under the Fair Trading Act, chain letters that request money are deemed to be pyramid selling schemes.

Ms Battell said the commission was particularly concerned with this type of scheme because it targeted the most vulnerable members of society.

The commission is also concerned about a horse betting scheme run by an Australian company Antinas Pty Limited which has allegedly been phoning New Zealanders and offering them large returns.

It appeared to be similar to a scheme the commission's Australian counterpart took court action against in 2002 which falsely claimed to be able to predict horse-race place-getters with high accuracy, she said.

This type of scheme was more likely to be a gambling programme than an investment programme and people should exercise caution, she said.

The commission continued to gets queries from people who have received letters from international lotteries claiming they are entitled to winnings.

All letters require some financial outlay by the recipient or disclosure of personal details such as a bank account number, Ms Battell said.

"In the commission's view these schemes are an advanced type of fraud and should be avoided. People who invest in these schemes risk losing significant amounts of money."

Ms Battell said the commission was also aware of a text message hoax doing the rounds which told people if they forwarded a message to 10 people they would receive a $10 text credit.

"Both Telecom and Vodafone mobile users have been hit by these hoaxes which have great nuisance value. Neither of these businesses is likely to advertise special offers in this way and mobile phone users should simply delete the messages," she said.

- NZPA