Air New Zealand customers fall victim to scam that looks 'very legitimate'

Air New Zealand customers who are sent a scam email should not click on any links, and should delete the message, says the airline. Photo / NZME

Air New Zealand customers are the latest to fall victim to scams, as they are being sent Airpoints emails that are looking "very legitimate".

Many Air New Zealand customers say they have received an email letting them know they have received a "quick gift" of Airpoints.

"You have received 392.64 NZD [sic]" one scam email said.

The email asks customers to deposit the digital Airpoints directly into their bank account. After 24-48 hours a second email will be sent to the customer with a digital barcode and a receipt.

One Air New Zealand customer who received a scam email said it all seemed "very legitimate". The woman said she clicked on the link to put in her details and was even sent a security code.

However, the code timed out and was resent, she then realised two transactions had come out of her card.

Airpoints is Air New Zealand's loyalty programme where travellers can earn Airpoints dollars and then exchange the points for rewards, including flights and rental cars.

An Air New Zealand spokesperson said the organisation was aware of the scam emails being sent to its customers.

"This email is not from our Air New Zealand Airpoints™ team and should be deleted," a spokesperson said.

If Air New Zealand customers receive an Airpoints scam email they should not click on any links and delete the message. Customers are also encouraged to forward the message to the Department of Internal Affairs or to CERT

Last month the Department of Internal Affairs received a record number of complaints about a scam texts purporting to be from a courier company.

More than 56,000 people forwarded the agency a copy of one of the texts in the past two days.

The scam messages asked its recipients to click on a link, then install a delivery app, which was actually a piece of malware called Flubot - which has been sweeping the world and reached NZ in recent days.