An Auckland-based victim was allegedly scammed out of $150,000. Photo: Richard Tindiller
An Australian man has been arrested in Auckland and charged with scamming New Zealanders out of almost $200,000.
Police are urging victims to act quickly if they suspect they have been the victim of a scam for the best chance of having their funds recovered.
In June, police received a report of what was believed to be a fraudulent transaction of $40,000 being made from a bank account of a person from Gore.
"The victim reported the matter on 3 June after his bank contacted him with concerns about a payment he had made into another New Zealand account," detective senior sergeant Craig Bolton said.
Police found the man involved.
"The 30-year-old Australian citizen visiting Auckland Central was arrested earlier this month and has since been charged with four counts of engaging in money laundering."
The charges related to two victims at opposite ends of the country, Bolton said.
The alleged offender's other victim, based in Auckland, had been scammed out of $150,000.
"It is absolutely devastating for those who are losing money in such huge quantities like this," Bolton said.
Both the victims had been impacted by a "term deposit scam", which police warned had re-emerged.
It was a sophisticated scam, and targeted victims searching for term deposits online who were tricked into entering their contact details on fake bank websites.
The scammers, posing as the bank, would then call the victims to set up a term deposit, prompting them to transfer money to a New Zealand account managed by a money mule, who would then send the funds overseas.
Bolton urged people to never enter contact details into any online website that offered 'term deposit' rates.
"If you think you may have entered your contact details on a website offering fake term deposits, do not engage in conversations over the phone with a person purporting to be from a bank - disconnect the call and phone back on a number displayed on the bank's website," police said.