It seemed almost inevitable that to mark Scam Awareness Week there were at least two new scams targeting vulnerable Northlanders.
Police are urging Northlanders to be wary of bogus charity collectors and not to part with any money until they have ascertained the identity of the person making the request.
The two
warnings come after a man pretending to be taking donations for Child Cancer went doorknocking around the Bay of Islands during the weekend and a Dargaville grandfather was cheated out of $1000 after he responded to a deceitful text plea.
The two scams come as the Ministry of Consumer Affairs launches Scam Awareness Week 2011.
The ministry's latest research shows that New Zealanders lose an estimated $300 million a year to scams and warns that the scam artists can be convincing, as the Dargaville man found out.
Dargaville Acting Senior Sergeant Maria Nordstrom said the grandfather believed his grandson had sent a text saying he needed $1000 to pay rent arrears or he would be evicted.
The man deposited the money into a bank account but later discovered the message was not from his grandson. Police are investigating.
Kerikeri police Senior Sergeant Peter Robinson said a scam artist was "doing the rounds" of Paihia and Kerikeri businesses on Saturday morning, posing as a Child Cancer collector and taking donations, recording donors' names and phone numbers in a red notebook.
Anyone doubtful about whether a collector was legitimate could ask for ID, check for official collection boxes - Saturday's scammer was reportedly using a jar - or call the charity to check.
Fake collectors often timed their scams to coincide with official appeals, Mr Robinson said.
