New Zealanders lose NZD $503.5 million to scams - SecurityBrief New Zealand
New Zealanders lost more than NZD $503.5 million to scams over the past year, with adults facing an average of 88 scam attempts annually.
New research from the Global Anti-Scam Alliance and Netsafe found New Zealanders face an average of 88 scam attempts a year, with 83% of adults encountering at least one scam in the past 12 months. One in four adults who interacted with a scam lost money, and the findings estimate total losses over the past year at more than NZD $503.5 million.
Average losses per victim were NZD $1,623, while 37% of victims said they had been scammed more than once. The report examined scam encounters, interactions, financial harm and prevention, based on an online survey of 1,180 New Zealand adults.
Common scam methods
Email was the most common route used by scammers, cited by 59% of respondents, followed by text messages at 44% and phone calls at 27%. Gmail and Facebook were the platforms most often named as the point of contact, at 38% and 35% respectively.
Shopping scams, impersonation scams and investment scams drew the highest levels of engagement. The findings also suggest many victims do not realise immediately that they have been deceived, with 49% saying they found out only after being told by a bank, family member or authority.
Confidence gap
Confidence in spotting scams remained high, but the data pointed to a gap between confidence and behavior. Nearly three-quarters of adults, or 73%, said they were confident they could recognise a scam, yet 44% of those who encountered one went on to interact with it.
People should be able to look for work, buy something online or respond to a message from their bank without having to become experts in deception.
Business response needed
Netsafe said the results showed the burden of prevention could not rest mainly with individuals. Carey called for businesses to increase spending on prevention measures, improve reporting channels and work more closely across sectors.
The research highlighted how familiar brands and apparently genuine communications were making scams harder to detect. Netsafe said this created pressure on companies to tighten verification processes and review how they communicate with customers.
Six in 10 victims said the experience affected their mental wellbeing, showing the harm extended beyond direct financial loss. Reporting rates were relatively high, with 74% of those who encountered a scam saying they reported it, though they were far more likely to tell friends or family (51%) than police (17%).
Related
