Supermarket staff knew something was wrong when an 88-year-old woman came in asking for a $1200 iTunes gift card.
Staff at Havelock North New World asked the woman about the unusual request, quickly discovered it was a scam and called police, Fairfax reported.
The woman received a call from an Auckland number telling her she had $6000 in unclaimed pension but that she had to provide her bank account details and an iTunes card with $1200 on it to claim it.
Senior Sergeant Kevin Stewart told Fairfax the woman's bank accounts were frozen and her cards cancelled as a precaution.
"The iTunes cards seem to be a pretty common currency for the scammers. Fortunately we became aware of this case before any funds were lost. The potential for loss was huge," he said.