4 March 2009

Ministry staff ‘win’ £1.5 million in lottery

Even the Ministry of Consumer Affairs isn’t immune to receiving fake notifications of lottery wins.

“Despite it being Fraud Awareness Week, we’ve received emails at the Ministry telling us we’ve won £1.5 million,” says Liz MacPherson, General Manager of Consumer Affairs.

“Sadly — as is always the case — if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. No one at Consumer Affairs has hit the jackpot just yet,” she says.

Lottery scams are one of the four types of scams being highlighted in the national Fraud Awareness campaign being run this week. The other scams include identity and phishing scams, romance scams and holiday voucher scams.

Scams are an international problem and Fraud Awareness Week is part of an international initiative to raise awareness of the dangers of scams and inform consumers about how they can protect themselves.

“Scams can target anyone. But consumers have the option to fight back. Don’t respond to them. By responding you let the scammer know you are there. If you don’t respond they don’t know you exist and they can’t take your money,” Liz MacPherson says.

Most scams originate from outside New Zealand and once money is sent overseas it is virtually impossible to recover.

“Remember, scams target you - protect yourself. Get up to speed with the types of scams that are doing the rounds and get some tips for staying safe by visiting the Ministry’s Scamwatch website,” says Liz MacPherson.

Background information

International Context

Fraud Awareness Week initiatives are part of a worldwide effort by the International Consumer Protection and Enforcement Network. In Australia and New Zealand, initiatives are run under the umbrella of the Australasian Consumer Fraud Taskforce (ACFT). The ACFT was established in March 2005 and comprises of 19 trans-Tasman government regulatory agencies and departments.

New Zealand Co-ordination

The Ministry of Consumer Affairs and the Commerce Commission are members of the ACFT and co-ordinate the New Zealand initiative, with a number of other organisations that undertake their own action in parallel.

Organisations undertaking parallel action during Fraud Awareness Week 2009 include:

• Banking Ombudsman
• Department of Internal Affairs
• IAG
• Ministry of Economic Development
• Ministry of Justice
• New Zealand Bankers Association
• New Zealand Police
• NetSafe
• Privacy Commissioner
• Securities Commission
• Serious Fraud Office
• Symantec
• Telecom
• Telstra Clear
• Trade Me
• Visa New Zealand
• Vodafone
• New Zealand Western Union & a number of community organisations.

Fraud Awareness Week Action

During Fraud Awareness Week 2009, the Ministry of Consumer Affairs has launched an awareness campaign based upon four stories of scam ‘victims’. These scam stories are based upon real scam scenarios and reports. The characters are portrayed by models for the purposes of the campaign.

The scam stories are based around four major scam areas: lottery scams; phishing & identity theft; romance & dating scams; and holiday voucher scams.

Activity will focus on raising awareness of scams, reminding people not to respond to them, and directing people to Scamwatch for more information and to report scams.