A woman has lost $6000 when she was tricked into disclosing her eftpos PIN number by a scammer.

A detailed account of the evidence against Kim Dotcom has been released by the FBI to allow so-called victims of alleged piracy to claim against his seized fortune.

Customs has refused to answer questions about an email asking staff to send information on Kim Dotcom to the FBI in exchange for "brownie points".

A joint report by the Chief Ombudsman and the Privacy Commission is scathing of how EQC has dragged its feet over information requests from quake homeowners.

The banking ombudsman has had 10 complaints about the loan-to-value-ratio (LVR) changes introduced on October 1, with eight related to banks withdrawing prior approvals.

Former Kaipara District Council chief executive Jack McKerchar received severance payments totalling $240,000 when he quit.

Ombudsman Deborah Battell says her office has received complaints from travellers that paying in their home currency when using credit cards may actually cost them more.

The Ombudsman has launched an investigation into whether an Auckland councillor knew she already had another job when she received a redundancy payout of more than $200,000.

A trail of documents show a lack of communication, an absence of Cabinet papers and the lone hand of Finance Minister Bill English in approving $4.8 million in public money for an agency that was ultimately left out in the cold.