Scam victims out of pocket to tune of $10.1 million

Wednesday, 24 January 2018

Netsafe chief executive Martin Cocker says most reported scams are tech support scams, where scammers make contact about a fake issue with a computer and offer to fix it by requesting remote access to the device.

Scam tactics are becoming 'increasing sophisticated' leading to more Kiwis falling victims to them, Netsafe's boss says.

The internet watchdog has released new figures showing New Zealanders lost $10.1 million from online scams and fraud last year. The largest single loss reported was $480,000, and the average loss was $10,771.

Netsafe chief executive Martin Cocker said some scammers had moved on from traditional scam models, and now use cheap, communications technology to reach large volumes of people.

This is done to help find the small percentage of people who are vulnerable to a particular approach at that time, he said.

'The simple message of 'If it seems to good to be true, it probably is' no longer reflects the reality of the online scam and fraud landscape,' Cocker said.

'It would be more accurate to say 'Even if it seems like a reasonable deal, it could still be a scam.'

In addition, scammers were taking their time to set victims up, often by leveraging the huge volumes of personal data now floating about on the web,Cocker said.

'Scammers are taking advantage of technology and digital marketing techniques to create scams that appear authentic.

'These scams are multi-faceted, often using several well-executed marketing elements designed to mimic well-known organisations and processes that people trust,' he said.

'The recent scams imitating Air New Zealand and Whittakers are good examples of this.'

New Zealand should not accept scam losses as inevitable, Cocker said.

More could be done to stop the losses, he said.

'The first step is to stop thinking of scam victims as greedy or foolish.

'We need to correct that misconception, get more creative with prevention education, and improve coordination between the agencies and organisations that can disrupt scam and fraud activity.'

The scams most commonly reported to Netsafe are tech support scams, by which scammers make contact about a fake issue with a computer and offer to fix it by requesting remote access to the device.

Kiwis lost $1.4m to online romance scams in 2017.

The reported losses to Netsafe likely only represent a small percentage of total losses, as many people feel a sense of embarrassment or hopelessness about reporting scams, Cocker said.

Tips to protect yourself from scams:

- Don't respond to phone calls or contact about your computer asking for remote access to fix it

- Use good, strong passwords on your online accounts and don't tell anyone what they are

- Always keep your personal information secure

- If someone offers you money or another offer, but you have to make a payment up front, ignore it

- Use a good antivirus and keep your software up to date

- Be wary of unusual payment requests

- If you're using a trusted trading or booking website or app, always complete the deal using the payment system in the platform