KEY POINTS:
Police have issued a warning to consumers after a bogus courier driver using a portable eftpos swipe machine stole thousands of dollars.
Kerikeri woman Monica Vance swiped her credit card to pay for a delivery that cost $3.50 but within days $8000 had been taken from her account, forcing the bank to cancel the card.
Mrs Vance is one of at least four Northlanders who have been targeted by a man posing as a courier driver.
A Whangarei couple, who did not want to be named, lost $3000 after paying for a $3.50 delivery and it is believed another Bay of Islands resident has lost $11,000.
Whangarei police Sergeant Howard Clement said anyone who doubted the validity of courier drivers should ask to see official identification.
If they were still suspicious police should be contacted, Mr Clement said.
Mrs Vance said before the courier driver arrived at her house there had been a phone call from a man called "Brian Farrell" the previous day to let her know there was a "special delivery".
The courier driver appeared on foot at her front door and said a $3.50 payment was needed but cash was not acceptable.
"He had a name tag and was nice and friendly. He handed over all the paperwork that all looked authentic and I thought nothing of it," Mrs Vance said.
But within days transactions had been made ranging from $160 to $600 and totalling $8000.
It was when Mrs Vance went to pay for bottles of wine while on holiday in Auckland that the card was declined and inquiries with the bank revealed the scam.
Printed receipts from a machine used by the bogus courier has the Whangarei address of NZ Couriers on the top and the delivery person named as "John".
However, NZ Couriers general manager Dean Bracewell said the company's drivers were clearly identifiable by their distinctive red and black uniform and they did not carry mobile eftpos machines.
He said NZ Courier vans were also painted with company's logos.
The Whangarei woman scammed of $3000 said the driver was very plausible.
"He was very businesslike and gave me no reason to suspect him," she said.
She said "Mr Farrell" had rung the day before and said his mother was very ill and had wanted to donate some of her belongings to the Whangarei Weavers and Spinners club, of which she was a member.
He told her he had got her name from the library. He said he worked at the District Health Board and that they were making deliveries of medicines and it would be no trouble to pop her "delivery" in the van.
When the package was delivered she was told a $3.50 payment was needed as it was to a private house. Within 24 hours their account had been accessed via Australia.
- NORTHERN ADVOCATE
