Bank warns of investment scam

Westpac is warning investors not to fall for a sophisticated scam that involves a fake Westpac investment prospectus.

The bank says crooks have produced a professional-looking fake prospectus in a bid to dupe investors doing internet searches for higher-paying investments.

Carolyn Kidd, the bank’s chief risk officer, said the scammers had put ‘‘significant effort into making the prospectus look authentic’’.

‘‘Would-be investors are encountering this scam when they do internet searches for information about investments and term deposits,’’ she said.

‘‘These people are asked to enter personal contact details on the websites which come up in the search results, some of which may purport to help people compare investments.

‘‘The scammers then email or call the would-be investor using those contact details.’’

Kidd said written and verbal communications from the scammers used convincing language and appeared credible.

‘‘We have had a handful of reports about the scam so far,’’ she said. ‘‘We want people to be vigilant and report any suspicious activity, so our financial crime team can investigate.’’

Mark Coxhead, Westpac’s head of financial crime, said the bank had not yet heard of anyone falling for the scam. ‘‘All of the attempts we are so far aware of haven’t proceeded, but we are conscious that the bigger angle here might be non-Westpac customers who are looking for an investment, and think this looks like an entry-point to Westpac.’’

The bank was also concerned that the fake prospectus invited people to lock their money away for a period of time, so it could be months, or even years, before people tried to get their money back, and realised they had been conned.

‘‘They might happily put it on their spreadsheet, mark it away, and not think about it for a while,’’ Coxhead said. ‘‘It might not come out for a little while that they are a victim.’’

New Zealanders were experiencing a heightened wave of scam attempts, Coxhead said.

‘‘During Covid, with more people being at home, and behind a computer screen, and waiting for deliveries, we have seen a marked increase in these types of confidence crimes,’’ he said. ‘‘This is the bigger end, but the pure volume of confidence scams, trying to convince people something is legitimate to part them from their money, whether it’s a postage scam for a parcel not received, or a romance scam, or an invoice scam, that’s 40 to 50 per cent up on this time last year.’’