New Zealand / Technology

Woman loses $15k in Spark phone scam

15:07 pm on 9 January 2021

First published on

Police are urging Dunedin residents to be wary of a telephone scammer who managed to swindle $15,000 out of a 69-year-old local woman.

Photo: 123RF

Sergeant Gemma Mckenzie, of Dunedin, said the woman was phoned last night by someone claiming to be a Spark employee, and was told her account was being hacked.

Personal information was obtained by the caller.

When the woman checked her bank account afterwards, she saw that $15,000 had been withdrawn without her consent.

This story was first published in the Otago Daily Times