Union boss uncovers postal scam which has re-emerged two years on

Reporter·NZ Herald·

11 Aug, 2019 05:27 AM4 mins to read

One ticket will say 'thank you' but the second ticket, in the same envelope, will likely congratulate the recipient on being a 'winner'. Image / John Maynard

The boss of a union which looks after the country's posties is putting pressure on the Malaysian High Commission to crack down on a scam targeting the country's most vulnerable.

John Maynard, president of the Postal Workers Union of Aotearoa, says the scam hit the country three years ago and sees letters being sent from a Malaysian address purporting to inform recipients they have won more than $US250,000.

The police eventually became involved and it was shut down. However, his members have recently told him they have seen letters pop in cities around the country including Dunedin and Wellington and wants it shut down as soon as possible.

The union has written to the Malaysian High Commission seeking a meeting about the travel-related scam which attempts to steal money from vulnerable New Zealand residents.

Maynard said they'd several reports involving possibly up to "many thousands" of letters having been delivered to New Zealand residents.

Piles of scam letters were confiscated by police after the Malaysian lottery scam was uncovered in 2016. It appears to have begun again in various parts of the country. Photo / File

"Union members became aware of the contents of these scam letters through family members and friends who have received them.

"PWUA members delivering mail have told the union that they do not want to be used as unwitting accomplices in a scam to steal money from vulnerable New Zealanders."

Maynard said he himself was targeted when the scam hit in 2016 and set out to track down the company's address while holidaying in Malaysia on annual leave.

He discovered that while Integra Tower which is mentioned on the ticket is real along with the street name, the street number was fake.

The tower happened to instead be owned by the Malaysian Government's Retirement Fund, KWAP.

As for stopping it, he said the hands of the Union and postal staff were tied as the mail had to be delivered and any complaint to police had to be laid by NZ Post.

A police spokeswoman confirmed they were yet to receive any complaint.

Maynard said he hand delivered a letter to the Malaysian High Commission requesting a meeting with officials on Thursday. He was yet to get a response.

The mail is posted by using Malaysian stamps as shown from a letter received by union boss John Maynard in 2016. Image / Supplied

Maynard said the letters could look legitimate to the untrained eye and left many people several thousand dollars out of pocket due to the payment of a so-called tax they are asked to pay into a Malaysian bank account.

It's only then that their "prize" is released.

"They will not be receiving the six-figure prize money they may believe they have won. We have no way of knowing how many people may have already been scammed."

The scam mail arrives in an A5 sized envelope with Malaysian stamps and without a return address on the envelope.

"The contents are usually a fold-out colour pamphlet promoting overseas holidays and including two scratchie tickets. Invariably one of the scratchie panels reveals simply a "thank you" but often the second scratchie reveals a second prize ranging from $150,000 to over $US200,000."

Maynard said postal staff were put in an awkward and morally-challenging position by having to deliver mail, often targeting rest homes, that they knew could siphon residents of thousands of dollars.

One ticket will say 'thank you' but the second ticket, in the same envelope, will likely congratulate the recipient on being a 'winner'. Image / John Maynard

He now wanted NZ Post to treat the scam as a public recall, as a way to alert Kiwis a scam was in circulation.

"If you're selling something which you know is faulty or dangerous ... you have to put a public notice out and recall your product.

"Here we have something which is going out which has been brought to [NZ Post's] attention which is a scam and people could have money stolen from them.

"So similar to a product recall when you know your'e doing something which could disadvantage or hurt people, it's the same kind of thing here, you need to notify people of the hazard which is why we're now doing it."