Thieves con elderly in power scam

Some victims threatened with disconnection if they didn’t immediately reveal their bank account details

Fraudsters posing as power company employees have stolen money from the bank accounts of at least three elderly people in the past week, police say.

The scammers called the victims — two from Queenstown and one a Christchurch resident — and told them they were from their power company. They claimed they wanted to speak about either an unpaid bill or a contract renewal before passing on the call to a second person who said they were from the victim’s bank. The second person would then pressure the victim into disclosing their bank account and password to settle the bill.

In some cases, the caller threatened to disconnect their power if they refused to comply at once, police said.

All victims thought the calls were legitimate because the caller knew personal information about them.

Police believe the fraudsters may be hacking victims’ email addresses to get this information before calling.

The Bankers’ Association alerted police last Thursday. Most victims were SBS bank customers who had an Xtra email account, police said.

Investigators were working with the bank to identify the fraudsters and find out if the stolen money could be returned to the victims.

However, police believe the fraudsters transferred the money to an overseas account.

They urged anyone who thought they might have been a victim or had received a similar call to contact their bank to find out if money had been stolen. If money had been withdrawn without authorisation, they should contact their local police station. Recipients of similar calls should:

Seek validation of who the caller actually is.

Always ask for a full name and the company or agency details.

Validate the phone number of the caller and ask that they call from a landline if they are using a mobile phone.

Ignore calls from unknown mobile numbers.

Don’t share personal details until you are convinced the caller is legitimate.

If you are threatened, simply hang up — the IRD or any other government agency, police or a crown entity will not threaten someone.

Don’t trust anyone who calls you and asks for financial information such as your account details and password — simply hang up. Call the company the person claims to be from on its published contact 0800 number or arrange a meeting at the relevant branch.