Watch out for rego email scam: NZTA

Monday, 7 December 2020

Vehicle owners are being told to ignore a scam licence renewal email which purports to be from Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency (NZTA).

The email tells recipients to pay $79.95 and directs them – via a “renew now” button – to a website with an NZTA logo at the top.

While the email looks legitimate, it is not the real deal. The email is not from the NZTA and the website it directs recipients to is a counterfeit website, not the NZTA website.

These phishing emails have been circulating for more than a year, but there has been a recent increase in reports of them.

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NZTA spokesperson Andy Knackstedt said scammers were likely to be trying to capitalise on the upcoming holiday break to catch people off-guard during the business of Christmas and New Year.

“Since we first issued warnings about a similar phishing scam in late 2019, several new versions of the original phishing email have appeared.

“We are working with police, CERT NZ and Netsafe to combat the scammers, but they are persistent, and no sooner is one phoney website taken down than another appears.”

Netsafe CEO Martin Cocker says scammers are taking advantage of the growing numbers of Kiwi carrying out transactions online.

A genuine vehicle registration reminder email sent by NZTA will include the recipient’s specific vehicle details (eg: plate number, vehicle make and the licence expiry date on the rego label on the vehicle).

Also, genuine NZTA emails will come from @nzta.govt.nz or @reply.nzta.govt.nz.

Scam email addresses look similar but are not correct. Some examples of artificial emails include nzta.co.nz, nzta.gov.nz, nzta.qovt.nz, nzta.nz, nzta.com.

Knackstedt said anyone who received an email that did not include specific details of their vehicle, or which seemed to be suspicious or incorrect, should not complete the online renewal transaction.

“If you receive one of these messages you should delete it immediately and if you think you’ve received a scam email, or you’re unsure about anything, please email NZTA.”

Email scammers have been increasingly active in New Zealand in recent years.

Netsafe chief executive Martin Cocker said the more Kiwis got used to carrying out transactions – such as rego renewals – online, the more scammers were going to take advantage of the situation.

“Scammers are seeing increased opportunities now, thanks to the impact of Covid-19, which has prompted growing numbers of people to utilise online services.”

The key thing for people to remember when presented with an apparently official email was to go directly to the site it was supposedly from, rather than clicking on the link sent in the email, Cocker said.

“So with a rego email apparently from the NZTA, like the scam ones currently circulating, go to the NZTA website itself. Don’t click on the ‘renew now’ link in the email.”