Fake Police scam: UK national arrested after nearly $300k lost
A Police investigation has turned the heat up on a cold-calling scammer claiming to be an officer.
Police recently shared about the scam in which victims receive a call to their landline phone, by someone pretending to be a Police officer and providing a fake badge number.
In recent weeks, 18 Aucklanders have allegedly been duped out of more than a quarter of a million dollars.
Detective Senior Sergeant Craig Bolton, from Auckland City’s Financial Crime Unit, says victims are told a story about needing their assistance with an investigation.
“The scam will always involve this so-called officer asking for financial information or asking you to withdraw cash to be collected as part of an investigation into banks,” he says.
On Monday, real Police officers caught up with the scammer following a foot chase through central Auckland.
Detective Senior Sergeant Bolton says a 25-year-old UK national was taken into custody.
Today, he will face the Auckland District Court on 22 charges of obtains by deception, attempting to obtain by deception and escaping custody.
Police will be opposing his bail.
“We will allege in court that this man, who only arrived in New Zealand in early June, was on his way at the time to collect more cash from a previous victim,” Detective Senior Sergeant Bolton says.
“Instead, real detectives turned up at the victim’s doorstep to advise him he was about to be scammed out of $20,000 in cash.
“Financial Crime investigators from all three policing districts' fraud teams in Tāmaki Makaurau have been working together to piece together this offending, and this is a great outcome.”
Aucklanders who fell victim of the scam were aged between 56 and 90, with the majority over 80.
“This man’s alleged actions betrayed the good-will of vulnerable and elderly members of our community,” Detective Senior Sergeant Bolton says.
The offender has victims from right across Auckland, with a total of $297,700 in cash lost.
Detective Senior Sergeant Bolton says enquiries are ongoing, and Police will work to recover as much of the cash as possible.
Please remember:
- Police will never call to ask you for bank details, pin numbers or passwords
- Police do not offer prize money
- Police will not ask you to go to a bank to withdraw money
- If you receive a call out of the blue of a similar nature: challenge the caller to identify themselves, ask for their details.
- Hang up, contact 105 to verify the ID and request the officer to contact you
- If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.
Chapter Book and Tea Shop Jan-Feb 2026 Book Catalogue
📚 JAN-FEB 2026 BOOK CATALOGUE 📚
Welcome back and best wishes for 2026! The new year sees the arrival of lots of goodies including Ilona Andrews’ BEAST BUSINESS (Hidden Legacy Series—Novella), Mary Balogh’s REMEMBER THAT DAY (Ravenswood Series), Christine Feehan’s DARK JOY (Dark Carpathian Series), Jayne Ann Krentz’s THE SHOP ON HIDDEN LANE (Set in Fogg Lake), Lauren Palphreyman’s THE NIGHT PRINCE (Wolf King Series), Leigh Rivers’ INSATIABLE (Edge of Darkness Series), J.D. Robb’s STOLEN IN DEATH (In Death Series), Nalini Singh’s SUCH A PERFECT FAMILY and more. Enjoy your reading!
NB. We have temporarily sold out of Mary Balogh’s “REMEMBER THAT DAY” and we expect it to be back in stock in around two weeks’ time.
Check out the catalogue at
chapter.co.nz...
Please see p.2 for the:
• Order link for signed copies of Nalini Singh’s SUCH A PERFECT FAMILY
• Pre-order link for signed copies of Nalini Singh’s ARCHANGEL’S ETERNITY
• Details of the Romance Writers of New Zealand Short Story Contest sponsored by Chapter (in April 2026).
• Details of the Auckland Romance Readers Book Club Monthly Meetings and Auckland Romance Readers Book Club Facebook Group.
For Orders, Enquiries or to check instore dates:
✉️ info@chapter.co.nz ☎️ 09-6232319 📱 021-635027
NB. Chapter’s trading hours are Tue–Sun 10–4. We are CLOSED on Mondays.
#ChapterBookandTeaShop #Tea #TeaShop #Books #Bookshop #RomanceBookshop #RomanceFictionSpecialist #BiMonthlyBookCatalogue
Poll: 🤖 What skills do you think give a CV the ultimate edge in a robot-filled workplace?
The Reserve Bank has shared some pretty blunt advice: there’s no such thing as a “safe” job anymore 🛟😑
Robots are stepping into repetitive roles in factories, plants and warehouses. AI is taking care of the admin tasks that once filled many mid-level office jobs.
We want to know: As the world evolves, what skills do you think give a CV the ultimate edge in a robot-filled workplace?
Want to read more? The Press has you covered!
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14.7% Critical thinking
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29.6% Resilience and adaptability
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2.9% Other - I will share below!
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