Please attribute to Senior Sergeant Paul Reeves, Response Manager, Canterbury Rural
Canterbury Police are warning individuals and local retailers to be wary of scammers purporting to be from Spark and/or epay who are seeking access to victim’s personal information.
We have been made aware of two different scams.
The first scam relates to someone telephoning the victim stating they are from Spark, and that there is something wrong with their computer.
The offender then asks for bank account details and other personal information.
Ironically, one of the victims was asked if they could provide their personal details in order to prevent and apprehend similar scammers.
The second scam relates to retailers being contacted by someone saying they are from epay, a company that provides prepay phone vouchers.
The caller states that they are testing the epay printing machines to ensure they are working correctly.
Retailers are asked to print out pre-pay vouchers from their printers, and read the voucher number to the offender over the phone, in order to check the printer is working correctly and that the vouchers are registering.
This is a variation on previous scams seen by Police, where the scammers claim to be from a widely recognised organisation in order to gain the victim’s trust.
We urge people to have conversations with those people targeted by these scams to help ensure they are aware of the tactics often used by scammers and don't become victims.
Police’s message on scams like this is simple – do not engage with anyone on the phone if you think you are being scammed – hang up immediately and report the incident.
If you are in doubt as to a caller's legitimacy, ask if you can call them back, or just hang up.
Information on other scams that are currently operating can be found on the Consumer Protection NZ website: https://www.consumerprotection.govt.nz/general-help/scamwatch
Consumer Protection NZ, along with Netsafe, also provides helpful advice and information about keeping safe online.
Anyone who believes they are a victim of a scam, in person, over the phone or online, should immediately report it to their bank, and then to their local Police.
END
Issued by the Police Media Centre