Lost money in a scam? Don’t fall for this common tactic

Have you or someone you love lost money to a scam and posted about it online? If so, be wary of anyone who reaches out and offers to help recover the funds.  

These people will claim to be from a trusted organisation— such as the police, the fraud team at your bank or a “recovery agency,” or they may say they know an “expert” who helped them when they got scammed. 

In reality, they are fraudsters who found out about your financial loss from your social media posts — or from other scammers — and are looking to scam you again. 

These scams are called recovery room scams and authorities in New Zealand have seen the number of them rise in recent years. 

It can be easy to believe someone who reaches out and offers to help you. But it’s important you and your whānau know that these people are scammers – and you know the warning signs. 

We’ve put together a useful guide that tells you how to recognize a recovery room scam and how to avoid falling for it.  

Protect yourself from recovery room scams

We’re here to help

If you, or someone you know has been affected by an incident online, or targeted by a scammer, we’re here to help. Report the incident to CERT NZ and we can help you determine what happened and how you can prevent it from happening again.  

Report to CERT NZ(external link)