Tom Sainsbury anti-scam video: Financial Markets Authority’s pulls ‘mocking’ video after complaints from fraud victims

The financial markets watchdog has pulled a video from social media featuring comedian Tom Sainsbury and apologised for any offence after several scam victims complained about its “mocking” and “disrespectful” content.

The video was released on the Financial Markets Authority’s (FMA) Facebook and Instagram pages on Monday as part of Fraud Awareness Week.

It was designed to raise awareness about the risk of elaborate investment scams that have drained millions of dollars from numerous Kiwi victims this year.

But the tone of the video has upset several people who lost large amounts of money to overseas criminals, sparking a handful of complaints to the watchdog.

In the video, titled Boomer Dad gets scammed, Sainsbury plays a character who says he’s “screwed up”.

“I think our trip to Normandy to try all the cheeses that region has to offer is off the cards.”

He says he had money “burning a hole in my wallet” from selling his ride-on lawnmower and decided to invest.

Comedian Tom Sainsbury partnered with the FMA on the anti-scam video. Photo / Fiona Goodall

“I found a very legitimate looking website.

“And then I got a phone call from a very legitimate sounding man who sounded like a real expert.”

Sainsbury’s character says he “really trusted” the adviser who asked him to deposit money into an account.

“I was a bit dubious but he was so friendly. But then he and the website both up and disappeared along with our holiday money.

“I feel like a right boob.”

Carla O'Neil lost $100,000 in an elaborate investment scam in which she thought she was putting the money into a Citibank term deposit. Photo / Michael Craig

North Shore real estate agent Carla O’Neil lost $100,000 to online fraudsters in February. She was tricked into wiring the money to an ASB bank account, believing the cash was going into a Citibank term deposit.

O’Neil and a group of other investment scam victims have been campaigning this year for better protection from banks from online fraud and more proactive policing of scam cases.

She told the Herald the Sainsbury video was “shocking” and “very bad taste”.

“It’s not how we are represented at all. We are an intelligent bunch of people. We didn’t just rush into it. We did our research. It was our life savings.”

While she supported the message of awareness, mocking her and other victims’ financial losses was disrespectful and insensitive, O’Neil said.

“We can’t support our children or buy a house. It’s affected our lives, it’s huge.”

In a statement, the FMA apologised for any hurt or offence the video had caused and said it had now removed the video from its channels.

“It’s Fraud Awareness Week and our intention was to raise awareness. Scams have a devastating impact on individuals’ wellbeing, and also the New Zealand economy, which is why the FMA takes this form of crime so seriously.

“The FMA partnered with Tom, a well-known online content creator with a broad following, to educate all New Zealanders on what investment scams look like, to help to identify the hallmarks of a scam.

“Overseas research estimates up to 86 per cent of fraud cases go unreported, so the purpose of the video and our campaign was to help remove the stigma around talking about scams and to encourage people to report them to authorities such as the FMA.”