Scammers pretending to be from Waka Kotahi target vehicle owners

Thursday, 11 August 2022

Vehicle owners are being targeted by scammers pretending to be from Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency.

Waka Kotahi is encouraging people to be vigilant, because of a number of online scams targeting vehicle owners.

The transport agency was aware of three scams that were targeting vehicle users, a spokesperson said.

They included scammers pretending to be Waka Kotahi representatives and asking drivers to urgently renew their licences, another saying the driver had overdue toll payments, and another claiming the driver was owed a refund.

A link in the emails then transfers drivers to a fraudulent website.

New Zealanders have lost $23 million to scams in the last 18 months, with the majority of victims staying silent about being duped. (Video first published October 2020).

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“Unfortunately it’s just the latest example from some very persistent scammers – using both fake vehicle licensing and driver’s licence reminder emails,” the spokesperson said.

The exact same driver's licence scam circulated a year ago.

“We’re 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,” he said.

Waka Kotahi only sends emails if a person has contacted it first, or if a person had signed up to receive email notifications and reminders.

Genuine emails from Waka Kotahi come from @nzta.govt.nz, @enews.nzta.govt.nz or @reply.nzta.govt.nz. Scam email addresses may look similar, but will not be correct – for example nzta.co.nz, nzta.gov.nz, nzta.qovt.nz, nzta.nz, or nzta.com.

The agency said people who might have fallen victim to the scam should contact their bank immediately and ask it to stop the suspicious payments.