14 November 2016
As part of Fraud Awareness Week we want to get you talking about scams and help you spot them.
Fraud takes many forms. You may receive a scratch-and-win card offering you the chance to win an exciting prize, get an email requesting money or personal information or receive a cold call from an investment company promising phenomenal returns.
Our Fraud Awareness Week focus is on cold call boiler room scams. Unfortunately these types of scams are increasing in New Zealand, so we want you to know that it’s illegal to sell financial products through a cold call in New Zealand. If you receive a call from a stranger about an investment opportunity, hang up.
If you’re targeted you will usually be:
- contacted by phone but you might also be contacted by text message, email or post
- promised a great return – much better than other similar investments
- pressured to invest quickly to take advantage of the offer.
Read our steps to protect yourself before you invest.
Other scams being targeted during Fraud Awareness Week are:
- Prize draw scams - attractive brochures and/or scratch-and-win cards indicating the receiver has won an exciting prize draw.
- Email and phishing scams - unsolicited emails requesting information, money or some form of online response.
- Taxpayer targeting scams - cold-calls or emails from a scammer posing as an Inland Revenue (IR) official.
Learn more
- Visit the fraud awareness website to find out how you can get involved this fraud week and to test your scam knowledge.
- Listen to the FMA’s Paul Gregory talk to Duncan Garner about cold calling.
- Read our avoid scams content to learn about the different types of investment scams and steps you can take to protect yourself.
