13 June 2007

Scammers carry on phishing for your money

New Zealanders continue to be targeted by scammer’s phishing emails, trying to part them from their money, says Consumer Affairs Minister Judith Tizard.

One of the latest phishing scams has targeted a local bank.

Scammers regularly take on the identities of local and overseas banks or financial institutions. The scammers send phishing emails, or even make phone calls, trying to trick New Zealanders into providing personal details such as bank account numbers, PINs and passwords.

The phishing emails or messages they send may appear to be genuine, but their sole aim is to steal your money.

These scams aren’t new, but they are becoming cleverer in the way they try and gain access to consumers’ funds.

Scammers will copy a bank’s or financial institutions logo and email message format to fool consumers. Frequently, phishing emails also contain links to a website that looks like the real company's home page, when in fact it’s a complete fake.

Key words and phrases are also used by scammers to attract a consumer’s attention, such as ‘Customer Reminder’, 'WARNING - Security breach of your account', or 'Account Verification Required'. These scams rely on a consumer’s desire to protect their personal assets.

Consumers can protect themselves from these types of scams by following these tips:

• Never send money or your bank account details to someone you don't know or trust.
• Never respond to an email asking for PINs or passwords. If you are asked for your account details or PIN, suspect a scam. Genuine banks will not send an email asking for security information. If you get this type of email, don't reply and report it to the bank - no matter how authentic it looks.
• Don't reply to any dubious or unsolicited emails. Delete them. Replying just lets scammers know your account is active.
• Don’t click on any links in a spam email, pop-up boxes or open any attachments. If you want to access a website or an internet account website, use a bookmarked link or type the full address in yourself.
• Check the website address carefully. Scammers often set-up phony websites with very similar addresses to genuine sites.
• Never call a telephone number that you see in a spam email.
• Keep your computer protection software up to date. This will limit any computer damage from viruses, worms and Trojan horse programmes.

Consumers are often the first defence against phishing scams - the best way to stop scammers is to hit the delete key or hang up.

For more information about scams visit the Scamwatch website.