Police are warning members of the public about a phone scam used to swindle elderly people, including two Queenstown residents, out of significant amounts of money.
Police said over the past week at least two people from Queenstown and one from Christchurch were scammed and had money taken from their bank accounts.
A person claiming to be a representative of the victims' power companies asked to speak to them about a contract renewel or an unpaid bill, police said.
In some cases the caller had threatened the victim, saying their power would be disconnected if they did not make an immediate payment, police said.
The caller would then find a "representative" of a victim's bank to talk to them to attain the target's bank details and passwords, police said.
Police said the targets believed the calls were legitimate due to the callers' knowledge of details of the victims.
Police believed that these details may have been obtained through hacking the victim's email address.
The Bankers Association first reported the scam on February 2, police said.
In two of the cases the victims were customers of SBS Bank who had an Xtra email account, police said.
Police said they were working with the bank to identify the offenders and were trying to figure out if the stolen money could be recovered.
It was very likely that the money was transferred overseas after it was taken, police said.
Police advice for anyone who receives a call of this nature is as follows:
- Seek validation of who the caller actually is.
- Always ask for a full name and the company or agency details.
- Validate the phone number of the caller and ask that they call you from a landline if they are using a mobile phone.
- Ignore calls from unknown mobile numbers.
- Don’t share your personal details until you are convinced the caller is legitimate.
- If you are threatened, simply hang up – the IRD or any other government agency, Police or a crown entity will not threaten someone.
- Don’t trust anyone who calls you and asks for financial information such as your account details and password – again simply hang up, call them on their published contact 0800 number or arrange a meeting at the relevant agency branch.
If you believe you may be a victim of this scam, or if you have received a call similar to the ones described, please contact your bank in the first instance to check whether your accounts have been affected.
If money has been withdrawn from any of your accounts without authority, please contact your local Police Station.
More information on current scams can be found on the Ministry of Consumer Affairs website http://www.consumeraffairs.govt.nz/scams .
