More than a month after being deceived at $ 24,000, the 80 -year -old woman was informed by a police official.
Police refused to comment on the case while the investigation was underway, but warned that the offenders and “organized criminal groups” behind the blows were “a master’s degree in disappointment.”
In February, the victim told the Otago Daily Times that the con artists who pretend to be Spark officials had hit it for seven hours before convincing it that their bank account had been compromised.
She made two $ 2000 transactions and two $ 999.99 transactions, allegedly for a New Zealand criminal group.
When her landline touched on a January afternoon, she replied, which she normally didn’t do, she said.
“This guy started talking to me and said it was Spark … He told me something was wrong with my phone,” she said.
For seven hours, she remained on the phone with the man while he performed arbitrary telephone checks.
Near the seven -hour mark, the scammer circulated and told her that “there was a problem with his bank account” and that she urgently needed to transfer her money to another account.
She followed instructions.
“In total, they took about $ 24,000 from me,” said the woman.
After she realized what had happened, she and her family called the police, contacted the bank and let Spark know that people were pretending to be from the company.
The efforts to recover part of the money back were unsuccessful.
Southern District Research Support Supervisor Rick Bourne said the woman’s case investigation was underway and, to protect his investigations, he could not talk to this specific case.
“We can confirm that police are currently investigating several cases of fraud involving victims throughout New Zealand, which have been the target of cold calls to their faithful or furniture numbers,” he said.
He said victims may not completely understand what they were being asked to do and offenders “blatantly use lies, persistence and pressure to get what they want.”
Bourne said a victim described the scammer as a disappointment master, who came across calmly and almost hypnotizing.
“The easiest way to prevent is to talk to your older relatives or friends and ask them to contact you if they were not sure if a service or offer is legitimate.
“At the end of the day, if you’re not sure, ask someone you trust and if anyone is pressing you to a decision, wait for them.
“There is no shame in trying to protect your money.”
How to identify a scam
– A on -line blow is any misleading scheme delivered through digital communications with the intention of stealing money or personal information.
– New Zealandes lose millions of dollars in blows each year.
– Signs that you can be directed by a scam includes unexpected contact of a person or organization, demands for technical questions, payment requests or passwords, initial reward payments and emergency claims.
– If you suspect that you are being the target of a scam, you should take a break and seek counseling before responding to requests for money or information, perform on -line searches to check the details provided by the person’s counting, protect your information, contact your bank if it suspects a blow and reporting the incident to Netsafe.
– For support or more information, visit netsafe.org.nz, send an email to help@netsafe.org.nz, text 4282 or call 0508 638 723 8:00 days of the week, 9: 00-17: 00 weekends.
laine.pestley@odt.co.nz
