HAVE YOU BEEN SCAMMED?

Jill Smith from Citizens Advice Bureau Far North (CAB)

Scams are on the rise and ruining lives, with over a million households in New Zealand targeted by scammers in the past year. Scams are becoming more sophisticated and far reaching, anyone can be caught by them, and in New Zealand we don’t have enough protections for keeping people safe.
At CAB, we regularly help members of the public with issues to do with scams. People come to us when they need help to know if something is a scam, or when they have been affected by a scam. We see the impacts scams can cause for their victims - the hardship and distress.
This is why we’re supporting the call for action to make New Zealanders safer from scams. Our friends at Consumer NZ are running a petition which asks for:

Banks to refund scam victims for authorised and unauthorised scam payments, unless the victim has been grossly negligent.
A national anti-scam framework requiring banks, telcos and digital platforms to take action to address scams and outlining their liability if they fail to meet their obligations.
A centralised anti-scam centre where relevant organisations work together to keep us safe.
If you would like to support this campaign by signing the Consumer NZ petition, you can do that here:

campaigns.consumer.org.nz...
To find out how you can protect yourself from scams and fraud, go to our CAB website at:

www.cab.org.nz...