Online scammers hook locals

 

JULIA WADE

Manipulative scammers have caused a degree of stress and worry for a number of locals in the past month after being taken in by a recent wave of internet con-artists.

Computers Plus owner David Hodge says he noticed a peak in the criminal trade through July and August, with a ‘stream of people’ heading to his shop asking for their devices to be rebooted after being deceived by online tricksters, who typically target the elderly and the ‘not-so-computer savvy’.

“Other victims have been caught out by being distracted, being contacted as they just get in the door from work with their mind on other things,” he says. “One person inadvertently clicked on a link and the scammer stole their whole address book… another has lost tens of thousands of dollars. I just wanted to warn the community to be extra vigilant.”

Hodge says the scammers have characteristically introduced themselves as representatives of government departments such as Inland Revenue, from banks, financial brokers, Spark and even Senior Net, generally declaring that ‘there is an issue with your account and we need to access your computer’. The best thing to do he says, is ‘just hang up or press delete’.

“If you don’t know them, if they ask for personal details or access to your computer, phone or iPad, please do not let them into your device and into your life.”

Local constable Dale Wewege says the police have not received any recent reports of scamming from the community but agrees with Hodge about how to deal with the online con artists.

“Humans are curious, especially if there is something intriguing or free being offered like new phones or working from home schemes… but if you don’t recognise the email address, don’t open it as scammers can then enter your computer. Try and get an idea of who they are from the details which appear in your inbox,” he says. “Also I want to advise parents to keep a close watch on what their kids are doing online, in particular that they are not being asked to post private information or photos from others.”

To report scams to the police Wewege advises taking a screenshot of the suspicious email to assist authorities. The information is then passed to the cybercrime department. Alternatively online, cold-calling or phishing scams can also be reported to Netsafe who collate data of the crime to build profiles and track various scamming trends which help resource police and increase public awareness on how to stay safe from those who scam to harm.

„ For more information visit consumerprotection.govt.nz