Scammers can impersonate organisations you’re familiar with and send unexpected emails or text messages. These could appear to be from Unity, another bank, a courier service, or phone provider.

These messages usually contain a link to an imposter website. Look out for:

• A text asking for your banking information or payment when you are not expecting it (for example, a text to pay a toll bill when you haven’t been through a toll location)
• A very low standard of message (check for low-quality design and bad grammar
• A website or email that is not directly from the real organisation
• A scam that is well-known and well publicised

If something seems too good to be true, it probably is. Winning an online lottery draw that you never entered or a long distant cousin passing away and leaving you funds, is a long-time favourite for online scammers. They may ask you for your banking details or personal information so they can make a deposit, but then use this information to steal money from you. They may even deposit money into your account, only to have you transfer these out to another account. Accepting illegal funds may result in prosecution.

This is when a scammer pretends to be from Inland Revenue or other government agency, and claims you owe IRD money, or you are owed money and they require your bank details to process the refund. Never click on a link from an email you do not recognise or were not expecting. Only ever update your personal details through myIR on the official IRD website (www.ird.govt.nz)

The online shopping market has boomed over the last decade and so has the number of fake sites along with it. Scammers create convincing fake websites that get us to purchase/bid for goods that are never actually going to come. If you do end up getting to checkout and are asked to pay by wire transfer or to enter your credit card details into a non-secured web page, you might want to stop and start asking questions. Make sure there is a padlock icon next to the URL which indicates the website it secure and less likely for hackers to intercept any data transmitted.

Scammers create fake profiles on dating websites, apps or social media platforms and attempt to create a relationship with you to retrieve personal information or money. They may ask you to send them funds to assist with a personal/family crisis, they may also use your personal information to commit identity fraud. Never provide your details or send money to someone you have met online without absolute certainty they are legitimate.

You can find out more about romance scams here.

This is where a scammer claiming to be from IT, your internet provider or a utility provider claims your computer or phone has been infected with a virus / malware and they require access to fix the problem. They will get you to take steps to let them remotely access your device, and will promptly steal personal information such as your online banking login and debit card details. Never allow someone to gain access to your devices when they have called you unexpectedly.

A scammer gains access to the invoices of a legitimate company and alters the bank details so the client pays funds to their account, rather than the company account. Access may be gained by hacking into the email account of the business. Alternatively, a scammer may send fake invoices that look legitimate.   

Before making a payment to a new or different bank account, verify the payment details with the business using another form of communication. One way you can do this is by calling the company using contact details from their official website.  

Since it is usually very difficult to retrieve funds in situations like this, confirming bank account details before sending a payment is an important step you can take to protect yourself.  

Sometimes, scammers need to obtain two-factor authentication codes (2FA codes) to succeed. They can use these to:

• Authorise a payment initiated from your bank account or credit/debit card
• Complete installation of a mobile app or GooglePay on your phone or computer

Although scammers are getting cleverer, they can still struggle with using correct spelling and grammar in their messages. Often these scammers are operating overseas, so English isn’t their first language. Look out for spelling mistakes or grammatical errors, and if in doubt, stop all communication until you have verified their identity. 

Communication that seems to be jumping the gun and prompting you for immediate action is another thing to watch out for from scammers. Often being straight to the point, scammers will try have all their instructions and information in the one message without any personal details so that the message can be widely sent out. If the message seems to be generic and doesn’t specifically look like it applies to you, ring up your service supplier and ask to speak to someone about it. 

A random email address or number contacting you, should be enough to raise any red flags. Don’t be afraid to question anyone contacting you, and if in doubt, end a phone call or don’t reply to an email. Instead try searching up the contact details and ringing a representative yourself.

The dangerous thing about everything being online, is the fact that it only takes one mouse click to infect our computer with a virus or to take us to an unsecured web page and have our details stolen. Before clicking on any link that has been sent in an email, hover your mouse over the link and see what the URL is that appears. If the URL goes to a website you trust and has “https” at the front of it, then feel free to click it. If you still don’t feel comfortable, then search up the intended website link yourself.