Common Scams in New Zealand | Impersonation Scams

Common Forms of Impersonation

Impersonating friends or family: Scammers hack into a friend or family member's social media account or email and send money requests to their contacts. Alternatively, they create fake accounts using the person's name and profile photo to carry out the same deception.

Impersonating organisations: Scammers create convincing fake websites, emails, or phone numbers that appear to belong to your bank, a well-known business, or a government agency. Caller ID can be spoofed to make a call appear to come from a legitimate organisation.

Impersonating celebrities: Scammers use a celebrity's image or video clips to endorse a fraudulent investment scheme or product. With AI, it is now possible to generate highly realistic fake images, voices, and videos, making these scams increasingly difficult to detect.

How to Spot and Respond

• Be alert if a friend or family member suddenly contacts you from a new number or account, especially if they urgently ask to borrow money or request secrecy.
• If anyone asks for a verification code, password, bank details, identity documents, or a funds transfer — stop and verify their identity through a separate channel before proceeding.
• Do not verify by asking "Is it really you?" in the same chat window — a scammer will simply say yes. Instead, call the person on a number you already have, start a video call, or contact them through a different platform.
• If someone is impersonating you: immediately post a warning on your own social media to alert your contacts; report the fake account to the platform; change your passwords and review your login history; enable two-factor authentication (2FA) on all accounts.
• Limit the personal information you share publicly — including photos, your home address, phone number, date of birth, and details about family members.

AI-Generated Impersonation

Scammers are increasingly using AI tools to clone voices, generate fake videos, or create realistic images of people you know. Even if a call or video appears to show someone familiar, trust your instincts if something feels off. The most reliable way to verify is to initiate contact yourself through a channel you know is genuine — rather than relying on incoming messages or calls.