Christchurch quake scam masquerades as Red Cross

Genuine Red Cross workers wait for instructions outside the Christchuch Art Gallery after the quake. Photo / Getty Images

A second, more sophisticated email scam has emerged targeting people wanting to help victims of the Christchurch earthquake.

The scam is designed to look like it is from the Red Cross, directing people to a fake website where they are asked for credit card details.

"The scam website has the same look and feel as the genuine Red Cross website," the Ministry of Consumer Affairs said on its Scamwatch page.

Signs the site was bogus included the misspelling of Christchurch and other words, the long web address which was not hosted on the Red Cross website, and the insecure payment page.

More fake emails and websites are likely to surface in the wake of Tuesday's earthquake.

The ministry advised people to type in the website address, not follow a link, and not to enter personal details on a website unless sure it was genuine.

Another scam used emails sent from "James McCoy" claiming to be from Donate4Charity NZ, a legitimate United Kingdom-based charity.

The scam asks New Zealanders to accept overseas donations for Christchurch earthquake victims and manage a bogus charity in return for a 10 per cent cut.

- NZPA