Significant investment scam targeting New Zealanders
Te Whanganui-a-Tara - A major investment scam is targeting New Zealanders seeking financial advice.
CERT NZ, New Zealand’s computer emergency response team, is aware people have lost millions of dollars to this scam in the last two weeks.
The scammers are using Google Ads to target potential investors. People searching for terms such as term deposit comparison nz are then shown an Ad from a malicious site claiming to offer advice on investments. The site is used to harvest details on individuals.
CERT NZ’s manager of threat and incident response Jordan Heersping says the scammers were using sophisticated social engineering tactics alongside some convincing fakes.
The scammers then call the targets claiming to be from the investment team at a New Zealand-based financial institution and send a fake investment prospectus.
The target is followed up with numerous phone calls and emails with fake contracts and instructions on how to send money.
Some individuals have also been given a fake investment portfolio website to check their investments, Heersping says.
“These fake sites even require a login before showing a balance specific to the target, giving people a false sense of security and potentially sending more money to the scammers.”
None of the websites or email addresses used by the scammers are official sites of the banks.
He says if people believe they may have been caught up in this scam then immediately contact their bank.
“Use their official phone number or website. The banks are aware of this scam and their fraud teams are on alert to help you, but the sooner you act the better.”
“If people have seen or interacted with these malicious sites, report them to CERT NZ so that they can work to get them taken down.
Lisa was born in Auckland at the start of the 1970s, living in a small campsite community on the North Shore called Browns Bay. She spent a significant part of her life with her grandparents, often hanging out at the beaches. Lisa has many happy memories from those days at Browns Bay beach, where fish were plentiful on the point and the ocean was rich in seaweed. She played in the water for hours, going home totally “sun-kissed.” “An adorable time to grow up,” Lisa tells me.
Lisa enjoyed many sports; she was a keen tennis player and netballer, playing in the top teams for her age right up until the family moved to Wellington. Lisa was fifteen years old, which unfortunately marked the end of her sporting career. Local teams were well established in Wellington, and her attention was drawn elsewhere.