Police warn business community after Hāwera business loses $69,000 to scammer

It was believed that the payments were disputed because the credit cards being used were stolen, police said. Photo / Getty Images

A Hāwera business has lost almost $70,000 after being scammed by a fake company overseas.

That's led police to put a warning out to businesses to be aware of scams to avoid losing substantial amounts of money.

Police say the Hāwera business was approached by an individual, 'Ned', who posed as a customer and agreed to make several purchases.

He suggested the orders were shipped to him using a particular freight company.

The police said they believed this company was fraudulent and was owned by Ned.

Ned made several orders and paid the invoices using credit cards.

Once payment was received, the Hāwera business paid the fraudulent freight company, which used several different bank accounts, to ship these orders.

In total, the local organisation paid this freight company about $69,000.

However, the credit card company then disputed the payments and the Hāwera company had to return the money Ned had paid, leaving it out of pocket the $69,000.

Ned used several different credit cards, some of which were declined.

It was believed that the payments were disputed because the credit cards being used were stolen.

Police were working with the financial institutions involved and continued to make inquiries.

Anyone who has been the victim of a scam of this nature is asked to contact Police on 105.