The New Zealand Bankers’ Association today warned people against transferring money for people they do not know to avoid becoming a ‘money mule’.
The warning comes after a scam that affected an older Blenheim resident.
In this case the overseas fraudsters had persuaded the bank customer they had won a lottery as part of a syndicate and asked the customer to assist by passing on the group’s administration fees. The customer then received a significant amount of money by direct credit, cheques and cash. The scammers then instructed the customer to send the funds to Canada through a money transfer organisation.
“This case is particularly nasty because the criminals preyed on an older person’s trust and goodwill,” says New Zealand Bankers’ Association chief executive Karen Scott-Howman.
“If someone you don’t know sends you money and asks you to transfer it overseas through a money transfer operator, it’s very likely to be a scam. They’ll be wanting to use your bank account for criminal purposes. The best thing to do is to contact your bank or the Police.”
Mules are usually promised easy cash for receiving money into their account and transferring it to an overseas account once they have taken a ‘fee’ or ‘commission’ for their trouble. In other cases people are lured by fake romances or asked to donate to an overseas charity to receive a significant tax refund. In this case it was a fake lottery.
The funds deposited in their account will likely have been stolen from another victim’s account, usually from a ‘phishing’ scam where people have unwittingly provided the scammer access to their account. The mule is then asked to withdraw the funds in cash and use a money remittance service to ‘return’ the funds.
New Zealand Bankers’ Association chief executive Karen Scott-Howman said banks were continuing to provide home loans in quake-affected areas. “Any issues would be around insurance. In line with previous practice, they’ll continue to require insurance for the properties they lend on.
Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment
Banks are offering financial assistance packages for customers impacted by the recent earthquakes.
“Banks based in affected communities are acutely aware of the huge impact the earthquakes have had on people’s lives, homes and businesses,” says New Zealand Bankers’ Association chief executive Karen Scott-Howman.
“Anyone affected by the earthquakes who has financial concerns should contact their bank to see how they can assist.”
Assistance may include:
- Temporary overdraft facilities or credit limit increases to assist with unexpected costs
- Hardship assistance for home loans, including suspending repayments for up to three months
- Early access to term deposits
- Waiving fees associated with restructuring business loans.
The banks’ contact phone numbers are:
ANZ: 0800 269 296
ASB: 0800 803 804
BNZ: 0800 275 269
Heartland Bank: 0800 227 227
Kiwibank: 0800 222 497
Rabobank: 0800 500 933
SBS Bank: 0800 727 2265
TSB Bank: 0800 872 226
Westpac: 0800 400 600
New Zealand Bankers’ Association chief executive Karen Scott-Howman said contactless payment was generally convenient and secure. “There’s an $80 limit for payments that do not need a PIN. That threshold is intended to provide security. It also means you’re less at risk of exposing your PIN to scammers.”
Banks won’t be able to iron out a number of the issues associated with having greater disclosure, before annual statements are sent out next year. Rather, they’d like regulators to give them until 2018 to roll out the changes.
“We’d encourage people to use internet and mobile banking, if possible, to make payments. For cashless payments customers have the option of debit cards, eftpos cards, credit cards, and possibly also mobile phone payments. Yesterday’s event provides a useful reminder to keep emergency kits up to date. It’s a good idea to keep some cash on hand to help you get through an emergency.”
Inland Revenue Department
“You may also want to think about changing automatic payment dates if you rely on money coming into your account to make those payments. If a payment is due to go out on a particular day, quicker payments processing means it’s worth making sure there is enough money in your account the night before.”
The major banks have recently updated their systems so that payments are dealt with much more quickly. But there is a chance some people could be caught out by money being taken from their accounts earlier in the day than they are used to.