Latest scams & alerts

The FMA have seen an increase in individuals being introduced to scam investments through unsolicited messages on social media chat platforms, such as WhatsApp, Telegram, Discord, Facebook/Messenger, Instagram and Viber. 

These messages can come from people falsely claiming to be an employee of an investment firm or bank and offering attractive investment opportunities. 

The FMA have also received reports from people introduced to scam investments after unexpectedly receiving messages with invitations to join chat groups to discuss or learn about investing.  

Be extremely cautious if you receive an unexpected message via a social media chat about any investment opportunity. 

This will usually be a scam. Even if the offer comes from the account of a person you know, their account may be compromised by a scammer. If you receive messages like this, do not respond and report to the social media platform.   

We’ve seen an increase in scammers impersonating well-known companies to gain access to your personal information and online banking.  

Often the scammer will try to get remote access to your mobile phone or computer to do this.  

You should never allow remote access or download any remote access apps during a call you have not initiated. There is a high risk that you are being scammed. TSB, or any other bank, will never ask you to install remote access on your device.  

If you’re unsure, end contact and call them back on their publicly available number.  

If you think your TSB accounts have been compromised, give us a call immediately. We prioritise fraud calls at our contact centre.  

The Financial Markets Authority (FMA) is warning New Zealanders to be aware of fake pension loan advertisements circulating on social media targeting people nearing retirement age. The FMA recommends extreme caution when engaging with these advertisements.    

These advertisements are published by accounts claiming to be from businesses offering fast and accessible loan solutions and helping clients reach financial objectives simply and effectively.  

Businesses providing lending services to retail clients are obliged to be registered on the Financial Service Providers Register.  

To check whether the business you are dealing with is registered, use this link: Financial Service Providers Register 

Scammers are impersonating well-known companies to deceive you into handing over money or your personal information.  

Recently, our team has noticed an increase in scammers impersonating NZ telecommunication companies.  

Contact is made via text, email, or cold call, often telling you there is an error with your phone’s account, your home internet, or your SIM card. They will hook you into taking an urgent action, gaining access to your personal information or device to defraud you.  

We’re also seeing an increase in "TSB Fraud Team" impersonation scams, where scammers are calling customers and attempting to gain access to their online banking details by convincing them to give remote access to their computer or phone. In some cases, scammers are convincing customers to divulge their log in details, card details, or authentication codes. 

Protect yourself:  

• Be wary of cold calls and anyone pressuring you to take urgent action. If you’re unsure, hang up and call them back on their publicly available number.
• Treat every unknown text as a possible scam. If you’re unsure, never follow links or engage with the sender.
• Never give anyone your login details, share authentication codes, or allow access for remote access to your devices. These are major red flags.  

If you think your TSB accounts have been compromised, give us a call immediately. We prioritise fraud calls at our contact centre. 

The Funeral Directors Association is warning of a rise in livestream scams targeting high-profile and community funerals. 

Scammers will create fake pages on social media, asking people for money to view the livestreams . Netsafe has reported a 34% increase in public livestream scams this year.  

The Funeral Directors Association says livestreams are paid for by the family and organised by the funeral home. A livestream from a reputable funeral home would never ask viewers for donations to watch the livestream.  

If you’re unsure, you should contact the family or the funeral home to check if the livestream link is legitimate.  

The Financial Markets Authority (FMA) is warning New Zealanders to beware of scams using fake endorsements supposedly coming from New Zealand politicians. Their names and images are being faked and misused to promote online investment schemes.  

This scam uses fake news stories, spread through multiple websites and advertisements, with the names of investment schemes and websites used to promote the scam changing frequently. 

In October 2024, the scam featured fake news articles featuring claims that New Zealanders will receive “income” or “dividend” payments from Inland Revenue (IRD). The fake claims say that money will be sent to New Zealanders after they sign up with an online investment platform.  

The IRD has confirmed these claims are false. There is no pool of tax funds becoming available for distribution to New Zealanders. 

You can read more about this scam on the FMA website.  

What to do: 

The FMA recommends extreme caution when engaging with social media advertisements or links in news aggregators that include fake political endorsements promoting investment opportunities. 

Do not click on these ads or links, and do not enter your personal information into these websites. 

If you have been contacted by a scammer after entering your personal information into one of these websites, do not make any payments or transfer any money to the scammers.  

Source: FMA 

Phishing email scams will target customers at random, often asking the recipient to complete an action via a link in the email. These emails use TSB branding to make them appear genuine.  

Below are some examples of real-life scams that have targeted TSB customers in the past. Remember, we’ll never ask you to enter the login details for your account, remote access to your devices, or your credit card details. 

TSB email scam example – confirm account and card details 

We’re aware of a TSB branded phishing email scam prompting recipients to confirm their account and card details. 

Users will be taken through several screens asking for confirmation of their account details and card numbers. The scammers will use these details to make fraudulent payments. They will then ask recipients to provide a confirmation SMS code to authorise these payments. 

This is a scam, and you should not engage with the sender. If you think you have provided your account or card details, please call us immediately 0800 872 226. 

TSB email scam example – restore access to your account (existing content) 

We have received reports of a TSB branded email scam targeting customers.  

The email tells the recipient that they need to restore full access to their account by clicking a link. This takes the recipient to a website that looks like TSB’s Online Banking portal. It then prompts the user to enter their online banking login details, credit or debit card details, and a SMS code to ‘make sure you are the account owner.’ The scammers will use these details to make fraudulent payments.   

This is a scam, and you should not engage with the sender. If you think you have provided your account or card details, please call us immediately on 0800 872 226. 

We are aware of scammers targeting customers with a fake TSB phone number and pressuring them to provide codes sent to their phone. 

These codes are needed to authorise payments, known as two-factor authentication (2FA). Scammers are using these codes to make fraudulent payments. 

TSB will never ask you to provide these codes, and you should never provide them to anyone. We will also never ask you to provide your login details for online banking or the app, or for remote access to your device.   

If you are ever unsure that a call from TSB is legitimate, hang up and call us back on 0800 872 226. You are not obligated to answer any questions or stay on the phone if you don’t feel comfortable doing so.  

Scammers often contact people unexpectedly, via channels such as WhatsApp, Instagram, and Facebook. They will often purport to be family members (kids, partners etc) in a panic and needing assistance, and will be contacting you on a number that is not their usual number you know them to have.  

They’ll typically only engage by text and will avoid any calls made, and their reasoning for contacting you on a different number will be due to a damaged or lost phone. 

Seniors are at greater risk of financial abuse. Someone may steal your money or property, fail to repay money you’ve lent them, or force you to give them money or sell your property for their benefit. Financial abuse might be unintentional, or explained away as ‘for their own good’.

Scam emails asking for your bank or log-in details can look like the real deal. Known as ‘phishing’, fraudsters use them to try and get hold of your details. They often include a link to a fake website, where you’ll be asked to enter your details. Even just clicking the link could activate a virus, so don’t open it, hit delete.

No one wants to believe that a trusted family member or friend would ever scam you but children, siblings and even parents are known to steal credit card account numbers. 

It can be as simple as family members making purchases without your knowledge.

Identity theft is when someone fraudulently uses another person’s identity. A fraudster may use your identity to gain access to your bank account, or to get credit such as a home loan, or credit card in your name.

Investment scams are on the rise. Often scammers will contact people by cold calling or messaging via text or social media claiming to be a broker or account manager. Scammers also place ads online that appear when you search for investment opportunities.  

Recently there have been many cases of scammers pretending to be from legitimate financial service providers, particularly in for cryptocurrency, clean energy bonds, and term deposits. The FMA publishes a list of current scam warnings and alerts on their website.

Keep yourself safe from investment scams:  

• Don’t respond to unsolicited investment offers.  
• Do your due diligence – check the FMA website to see if the company is licensed and registered. 
• Consider the offer being made – if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. 

Fraudsters use all sorts of cons over the phone and it’s sometimes difficult to tell the difference between a cold call trying to sell you something and a scam. Never give your details to callers, however genuine they seem – and don’t be afraid to hang up and call the company back on their official phone number.

Recovery scams are when criminals contact someone who has lost money due to a scam and claim they can recover the lost funds. They’ll ask you to pay an upfront fee for their help. This is simply another scam. Please be careful about who you discuss a fraud case with.

Scammers will take advantage of people looking for romantic partners, often via dating websites, apps or social media. Dating and romance scammers will express strong emotions for you in a relatively short period of time. Once they have gained your trust, they will ask you for money, gifts or your personal data.

Social media scams are usually cunningly crafted by a scammer to appear genuine, using official brand logos, made up terms and conditions and include a link to enter your details.  Clicking on these links sends your personal information to third parties. If it’s too good to be true, it probably is.

Scammers often send texts with malicious links to install malware on your device or prompt you to enter your personal information. If you receive a message, don’t click links or attachments, and don’t engage. Check directly with the business on their publicly available number if you’re unsure. You can report text messages for free by forwarding them the Department of Internal Affairs on 7726.  

There are many text message scams going around right now. The ones that trick people are day to day messaging about bank accounts, tolls, car registration or courier packaging. 

They ask recipients to click on a link to complete an ‘urgent’ action.  

If you receive a message like this, don’t click links or attachments, and don’t engage. Check directly with the business on their publicly available number if you’re unsure.  

You can report text messages for free by forwarding them the Department of Internal Affairs on 7726. 

Once reported, block the sender and delete the message.   

Many people have found themselves losing money every year by not reading the fine print of free trials. When it comes to signing up for a free trial, if a company requires you to provide them with your credit card number before the first shipment goes out, it can be a red flag that shows they intend to charge you in the future.