The rapidly evolving world of scams in NZ is ‘whack-a-mole'

NZ Herald

5 days ago

'Most of the time, the money's been whisked offshore, and once it goes offshore, the police tend to throw their hands up and say it's too difficult. We don't have jurisdiction...
'What police tend to do is go for the low-hanging fruit, which is the domestic money mules whose accounts have been used to receive the money and transfer it off... those ones are a little bit easier for police to identify and prosecute. But that leaves the ringleaders, who are generally offshore, free just to carry on doing what they're doing,' he said.
The National Cyber Security Centre's latest insight report, released last month, revealed $7.8 million in financial losses were reported to the government agency in the first quarter of 2025.
Financial losses rose 14.7% compared with the previous quarter ($6.8m).
This month, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Scott Simpson announced the launch of the Anti-Scam Alliance to 'strengthen New Zealand's scam defences'.
'Some reports suggest scams cost the economy up to $2 billion annually, and it is crucial we get on top of the problem,' he said.
Banks have agreed to updated protections and new compensation rules, committing to reimburse customers up to $500,000 in losses in circumstances where banks fail to meet anti-scam commitments.
Several other protections are being rolled out, including the 'confirmation of payee,' which makes sure the account name being sent money matches the one inputted into the system, to help prevent misdirected payments.
Nichols said banks are working hard towards anti-scam measures, but more could be done.
'In a lot of the cases I've seen, people have made a very unusual series of transactions which are completely at odds with their history of banking. I think there needs to be better systems, algorithms that pick up those really unusual transactions and put a halt on it, put a bit of friction in the system.
'One thing I know the banks are working on is trying to share more information about known mule accounts. Mule accounts are people who have agreed to receive money, and then they are under instructions to send it straight overseas.
'There have been cases where banks have known that they are harbouring a suspect account or customer, they haven't shared that information with other banks, and these people have been able to go on and open other bank accounts and keep receiving money,' he said.
Nichols has spoken to multiple scam victims and said there are many commonalities.
'The emotional toll, the embarrassment, the shame, the financial stress it's put them under... But the worst thing was the loss of trust in humanity. How do you ever trust anyone ever again when someone that you believe to be honest and helping you has swindled you for everything you've got?
'Everyone is different. There have been some real tales of heartache and a lot of tears on the phone. One that really sticks out to me is a Spanish fellow who's a lovely guy. He lost a very, very large sum of money when he was singled out by a scam that was going around. He talked to me about his loss and what he'd gone through... he told me that he felt he had failed his wife, and that was really hard to hear.
'Fortunately, the Banking Ombudsman found BNZ was at fault, and he received a 70% refund in that case, which was great for him. But like I say, a lot of people aren't so lucky,' Nichols said.
Listen to the full episode to hear more about Lane's years of reporting on scams and how you can better protect yourself.
The Front Page is a daily news podcast from the New Zealand Herald, available to listen to every weekday from 5am. The podcast is presented by Chelsea Daniels, an Auckland-based journalist with a background in world news and crime/justice reporting who joined NZME in 2016.
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