Real life scam stories

Found 14 results. Displaying page 1 of 1

1. 16 January 2023

   Scam case study: Escaping a scammer with a little help from a friend

   When Mia asked an old friend for some money to help top up an investment – she heard the harsh news: the whole thing was a scam. Targeted on social media, Mia has now lost $41,000 with little prospect of getting any of it back.

   https://www.fma.govt.nz/library/real-scam-stories/mia/

2. 19 July 2022

   Fraud case study: Close call in Starlink IPO share scam

   This fraud case study documents the story of someone we call Sarah (not her real name) to report an odd encounter she had with a company claiming to help her get shares in Starlink – the global satellite-based internet venture founded by Tesla and SpaceX’s Elon Musk.

   https://www.fma.govt.nz/library/real-scam-stories/starlink-fraud-case-study/

3. 17 November 2021

   Dad’s hero: Kate reports a scam that costs her father $700,000

   An account of a real-life investment scam called Synergy Capital Asset Management, which conned a Kiwi investor out of NZ$700,000 offering ‘pre-IPO shares’.

   https://www.fma.govt.nz/library/real-scam-stories/dads-hero-kate-reports-a-scam-that-costs-her-father-700000/

4. 27 August 2021

   Connected with a con: Nisha met a scammer on LinkedIn

   Nisha contacted the FMA in May 2021 to report a scam targeting users of popular social media platform Linkedin. She had connected with a woman who convinced her to invest with an entity called Standard Coin Options, which then insisted she pay them ‘tax’ before they would release her ‘profits’

   https://www.fma.govt.nz/library/real-scam-stories/connected-with-a-con/

5. 16 August 2021

   How a family chat might have saved one man from losing $50,000 to an investment scam

   When a band of international scammers launches a sophisticated, multi-person project to fleece you out of your money, your best protection might be closer to home than you think.
   
   Bill* is in his early 70s, lives in a small provincial town and works in the health sector. He fell victim to an international share trading fraud which all began with an unsolicited phone call from a man in New York, ringing as part of a survey associated with Wall St Journal.

   https://www.fma.govt.nz/library/real-scam-stories/bill/

6. 15 July 2021

   Match! Jane met scammer on dating app and lost over $100,000

   Jane contacted the FMA in June 2021 to report a serious investment scam that had cost her more than $100,000. The scammer initially matched with Jane on popular dating app, Hinge, in March. After months of chatting, he lured her into a complicated investment scam involving supposed forex currency trading. Here’s her story.
   

   https://www.fma.govt.nz/library/real-scam-stories/match-dating-app-matched-jane-with-scammers/

7. 1 April 2021

   Scammers using dating apps to lure investors: Tom lost over $100,000

   An investment scam case study about a young man in NZ who lost over NZ$100,000 to a scam after matching with a woman on the dating app Tinder.

   https://www.fma.govt.nz/library/real-scam-stories/scammers-using-dating-apps/

8. 24 February 2021

   投资前请反复确认：Jian在一场加密货币的骗局中损失了成千上万元

   Check before you invest: Jian lost thousands to a cryptocurrency scam. Jian* 将成千上万新西兰元投入到了他所以为的加密货币之中，后来他意识到这其实是个骗局，于是电话联系了金融市场管理局（Financial Markets Authority，FMA）。

   https://www.fma.govt.nz/library/real-scam-stories/check-before-you-invest/

9. 19 November 2020

   Private investment company impersonated by scammers

   GRC Investments Limited is a private investment company based in Christchurch that scammers have sought to exploit by impersonating them. The FMA issued a warning in September that an investment scam appeared to be operating under a similar name – G.R.C Trustee.

   https://www.fma.govt.nz/library/real-scam-stories/investment-company-impersonated-by-scammers/

10. 12 May 2020

    Samena lost $2300 to a cryptocurrency scam

    Samena lost $2,300 after a co-worker she looked up to as an “older sister” talked her into giving money to a global cryptocurrency scam called OneCoin.

    https://www.fma.govt.nz/library/real-scam-stories/samena/

11. 13 November 2018

    Supporting scam victims: Simon helped his father-in-law spot a scam

    What would you do if you thought a family member was being scammed?That was Simon’s dilemma after he became concerned about his father-in-law Richard. Simon believes the scammers first made contact with Richard by ringing him to take part in a phone survey - a classic scamming tactic.

    https://www.fma.govt.nz/library/real-scam-stories/simon/

12. 12 November 2018

    Beware boiler room scams: John’s story shows how scammers target investors

    John was contacted by an Asian research company doing a survey of New Zealand businesses. A week later, he received another call. This time it was from a trading company based in China asking if he wanted to purchase pre-IPO shares in Alibaba Group.

    https://www.fma.govt.nz/library/real-scam-stories/john/

13. 12 November 2018

    Don’t let those ads fool you: Diana lost thousands investing in binary options

    Diana works full-time and lives in the Bay of Plenty. She recently lost around US$5,000 investing in binary options.

    https://www.fma.govt.nz/library/real-scam-stories/diana/

14. 12 November 2018

    Know the scam warning signs: Bob’s story highlights the tactics scammers use

    Bob is a consultant who lives in Christchurch. He’s invested in shares for many years, owns his own home, and is in KiwiSaver. Recently, Bob lost $67,000 through a ‘boiler room’ share scam after an overseas company called him, offering him the chance to invest in a pharmaceutical firm.

    https://www.fma.govt.nz/library/real-scam-stories/bob/