Scammers target home buyers
Emails of real estate agents, lawyers hacked so fraudsters can snare deposits
Home buyers are being targeted by a new scam which tricks them into paying their deposit money to fraudsters instead of a legitimate trust account.
Banking Ombudsman Nicola Sladden says real estate agents and lawyers are being targeted in a sophisticated “invoice scam” in which people hack into the email of those companies and then send out legitimate-looking invoices.
Instead of the invoice having the bank account of the law firm or real estate agent it is replaced by a scammer’s account number and the money goes straight to them.
“We are getting lots of queries about it over the phone and banks are also saying they are seeing it.”
Sladden said the New Zealand Law Society put out a warning to its members at the end of last year after the scam hit lawyers in Queensland.
She said the scam began with people approaching a law firm wanting to be a client.
Often they say they are interested in buying a property and want the firm to do the conveyancing for them.
Emails go back and forth between the parties with more details exchanged until the “client” agrees to use the firm.
Then the scammer sends a supposedly important document which can only be accessed by the person they have been dealing with at the law firm which requires them to put in The Auckland Coal Action Group staged a small protest outside Fonterra’s head office in Auckland yesterday over the co-op’s continued use of coal in its manufacturing processes.
Spokesman Peter Whitmore said Fonterra had not done enough to wean itself off coal, despite having joined the recently-formed Climate Leaders Coalition business group.
He said Fonterra, New Zealand’s second largest coal user, still had not their email address and password.
Once that happens the scammer gets access to the person’s email.
The scammer then sends an email out to remind a person who is due to pay their home deposit close to the deadline with a tweaked invoice with their own account details on it.
Sladden says her advice to people was to ring and check the bank account number with the law taken any meaningful steps to reduce emissions by switching to sustainable fuels or to other processing methods in its big dairy factories.
“The need to rapidly phase out of coal use has now been clearly articulated by many scientists over a long period,” Whitmore said in a statement.
“It is over 10 years since leading climate scientist, James Hansen, said that to maintain a liveable planet, coal must be phased out in developed countries by 2025 and in developing countries by 2030, a finding that has firm or real estate agent.
“If it is an account you have never paid money to before. Check with the lawyer and read out the account.”
Sladden said it paid to verify the bank account details for any large transaction as once a mistake was made it was difficult to recover funds.
The invoice scam is just one of the many types the ombudsman service has seen in the past year which has also been backed up by more recent studies,” he said.
Fonterra said in a statement it respected the right of New Zealanders contributed to a 37 per cent rise in scam cases in the year to June 30.
Sladden described the increase as a significant step up and said scams were getting more sophisticated. She said it talked to victims on a daily basis who were too stressed to tell their families about their situation.
Sladden said a new breed of scammers were emerging who were masters in manipulating people by tapping into their emotions.
“They use fear to their advantage. Scammers says things like, you’ve done something to your computer and people are hacking into it. Someone has downloaded a game using your Wi-Fi and now your system has a virus. You owe money to Inland Revenue. Scammers are now far more creative in finding new ways to engage and groom their victims.”
Sladden said accessing your banking details doesn’t come until much later, often hours down the track.
“But the end game is the same — by distracting you with terrible news, scammers quickly move on to how they can help ‘fix things’, gambling on the fact you won’t stop to check anything until it’s too late.”
Sladden said the distraction may also come in the form of good news. “You’ve won a prize. You’ve been selected for a holiday. I’ve seen your profile online and I want to get in touch, but my subscription is about to end — email me!”
She said its advice was to check before clicking on a link or accepting “help” over the phone.
The need to rapidly phase out of coal use has now been clearly articulated by many scientists over a long period.
Peter Whitmore
to express opinions, and it supported New Zealand’s commitments to the Paris Agreement.
“The action we have taken includes developing a road map with the Government to have net zero emissions in Global Operations by 2050 on the way to using 100 per cent renewable energy,” Fonterra said.
“It’s still our intention to work with Government and understand the policies they have planned to support and enable a cost-effective transition from coal and gas, to lower emissions energy sources,” Fonterra said.