Investment scams targeting Chinese New Zealanders are under-reported

Wednesday, 17 February 2021

The film was made by the Commission for Financial Capability to show how scam victims suffer after being duped.

Chinese New Zealanders have been told not to believe warnings from conmen that reporting investment scams will land them in hot water with the authorities.

The Financial Markets Authority (FMA) believes scams targeting Chinese New Zealanders are being under-reported, but urged people to come forward, saying it has multi-lingual staff able to listen to complaints in Mandarin and Cantonese.

Liam Mason, the FMA’s director of regulation believes some victims are choosing to not report scams either because they don’t know who to contact, or may think there’s no point.

But, he said: “We’re also aware of cases where scammers have even warned victims will get in trouble with New Zealand authorities if they report the crime. This is obviously not correct.”

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Liam Mason, Director of regulation at the Financial Markets Authority, is urging Chinese New Zealanders not to believe they will get into trouble with authorities for reporting an investment scam.

“Scammers thrive on secrecy,” he said.

“They prey on people’s desire not to lose face or cause a fuss. But that only helps them keep scamming others.

“Reporting them means we can investigate, warn the public, and refer victims to other agencies who may have more tools to help.”

Mason warned investors to be on heightened guard for scams in the current pandemic-hit economic environment.

Last year the FMA received almost 200 reports of scams and fraud, but only a handful of complaints were from Chinese New Zealanders, he said.

“That’s despite a 2020 FMA survey finding around one in five Chinese New Zealanders had been approached about a potential investment scam,” he said.

That was the same level as the overall population, he said.

Mason said the FMA’s Chinese-speaking staff were dedicated to investigating scams, and its call centre used interpreters, when needed, to help complainants whose first language was not English.

“We want to hear from anyone who has encountered a potential investment scam, whether they are just suspicious or have actually lost money, or know someone who has,” Mason said.

“This Year of the Ox, scammers will continue to work hard to steal honest people’s money. Don’t let your hard work go to waste by sending anyone money without doing the basic background checks.”