New Zealanders are being contacted by people they don't know via email, phone or social media websites claiming to have accidentally paid money into their bank account. Photo / Thinkstock
Kiwis are being targeted as "mules" to transfer stolen funds as part of a money laundering operation, according to the New Zealand Bankers Association.
The association is warning people to be wary of transferring money on behalf of strangers in light of a new scam.
The scam involves New Zealanders
being contacted by people they don't know via email, phone or social media websites claiming to have accidentally paid money into their bank account.
The stranger then asks the funds to be returned using a money remittance service.
The association said the funds deposited were likely to have been stolen from another victim's account, usually from a 'phishing' scam where people have unwittingly provided the scammer access to their account.
