Staying safe from scams
The number of scams keep growing, and as they become more sophisticated, they're getting harder to spot. We've put together some tips on keeping your money and personal info safe.
Tech Support Scams
Sam (not member’s real name) had been getting pretty frustrated with his Wi-Fi. The connection was inconsistent and kept slowing down. So, when he received a call from ‘Spark’ saying they’d noticed an issue with his broadband, he wasn’t suspicious.
The caller, posing as a Spark representative, said the problem was an easy fix… they just needed to remote access into Sam’s computer to do it.
Unfortunately, Sam was talking to a scammer. With unrestricted access to Sam’s computer, the scammer found a way to log in to his PCU internet banking and start transferring money out from Sam’s account.
Despite Sam’s quick action of contacting PCU to try and stop the payments, the scammer managed to transfer nearly $10,000 from the account before the transactions could be halted.
Sam was targeted by a ‘Tech Support Scam’ that has been hitting lots of Kiwis recently. While they can be easy to spot if the scammer is pretending to be from a provider you don’t use, it can be harder if you’re in a similar situation to Sam. We’ve put together some tips on how this scam works and how to spot them.
How Tech Support Scams work
Scammers pose as tech support agents from organisations like Spark or Microsoft, with the goal of getting their hands on your money.
They’ll claim you have issues with your phone, internet or computer. It could be related to a slow internet speed, a recent Fibre installation or trying to convince you that your modem, email or device has been hacked. Often using scare tactics and urgency, they’ll push you to go online and download an application to give them access to your computer so they can 'fix' it.
✅ Avoiding this scam
If you’re contacted out of the blue by someone claiming to be tech support or similar, hang up if they:
- Request access to your personal computer or laptop.
- Request your password or credit details.
- Threaten to disconnect your broadband or power.
- Tell you that you’ve been hacked.
After hanging up, you can check if the call was a scam by going to the company's official website and looking for information about common scams their customers are being targeted for.
You can also get in touch with the company directly using the contact details on their website.
Don’t use any contact details given to you by the person on the phone.
Other ways to stay safe
While we have a bunch of ways we protect your money from fraudsters, there are steps you can take to reduce the likelihood that your personal data is compromised.
We’ve put together some tips for keeping safe, highlighted other common scams and included helpful online resources for keeping up-to-date with the latest scam alerts and warnings.
If you think you’ve been scammed or had your personal details compromised, contact us as soon as possible at 0800 429 000.