Westpac Bank is issuing a warning about a so-called "penalty scam" that is targeting the Chinese community.
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The bank said its teams had seen an increase in cases where scammers posed as someone in a position of authority and pressured unsuspecting victims into handing over their money.
Westpac NZ head of financial crime Mark Coxhead said there had been recent reports of scammers making contact with people by video call, posing as police officers from China and accusing them off committing a crime.
"They threaten them with harm, arrest or legal action if they do not make payments to an overseas account," he said.
He said customers should know that the police would never contact someone via video call or request an urgent payment.
The bank encouraged New Zealanders to be wary of calls from people accusing them of crimes, requesting that they lie or withhold information from their bank, or demanding for payments in the form of cryptocurrencies, gift cards or an overseas bank transfer.
"Customers can help us and themselves by staying vigilant and reporting anything that doesn't seem right," Coxhead said.
"Fraudsters and scammers are getting increasingly sophisticated in how they operate, and we're working around the clock to keep our customers safe.
Last week, Westpac NZ notified customers about a sophisticated new scam involving a fake investment prospectus that looked genuine.