Scams turn to te reo
natural conversation,’’ she said.
Martin Cocker, CEO of online safety organisation Netsafe, said each year in New Zealand around 10,000 people were targeted online using a language other than English. Of those, just a handful of people have contacted Netsafe to say they had been contacted in te reo.
He said the use of modern technology, like online translation software, shows the fraudsters’ commitment to build trust.
‘‘For systems to be improved so people can communicate with each other is a huge positive. But it also enables scammers to use that same technology to their advantage and that’s a negative.’’
Cocker said Ma¯ ori elders who use the internet were vulnerable because they are more likely to let their guard down if they are communicating with someone who they think can speak their language.
Chief Executive of the Ma¯ ori Language Commission Ngahiwi Apanui said just like the Ma¯ ori language, the elders, or kauma¯ tua, needed protection.
‘‘The best advice is to rely on wha¯ nau before responding to anyone asking for your information or for money.’’
In the meantime, Apanui has a couple of terse phrases to use if approached online by scammers using te reo.
‘‘’Upokoko¯ hua’ which means ‘You are a mongrel’ and ‘Rapua he mahi pono’ meaning ‘Find an honest job’.’’