Scams in New Zealand are very common and can lead to financial loss and emotional distress for victims.
Many of these victims are in the demographic that SeniorNet serves – yes, you!
The older generation tends to take things they see on their computer at face value and be more trusting of people in general. We may also be hesitant about using and understanding technology, often only engaging because banks, other commercial businesses and government departments are forcing us to deal with them online.
The Current Situation
Online scams are causing significant harm to New Zealanders. Gross reported financial losses have been over $265 million a year.
In 2025, a Netsafe study showed that over four fifths of New Zealanders have encountered a scam, with an average of one scam encounter happening every two days. Financial losses and low recovery shopping scams (50%) and unexpected money scams (47%) are the most common types of scams in New Zealand, with almost a quarter of New Zealand adults claiming to have lost money to scams in the last 12 months.
This issue crosses a number of sectors, including banking, telecommunications, and digital platforms. The Government has established the Anti-Scam Alliance to co-ordinate efforts to combat scams.
What can you do proactively?
Have you spotted a txt or email scam in your phone messages or email? If so, report it. It is a simple process, and the more people that do this, the better authorities will be able to clamp down on these criminals. See the instructions for reporting either a TXT message or an EMAIL.
Even if you think you will spot a scam, the advent of Artificial Intelligence is making it hard, even for the experts, to always be certain. But knowledge is power, so we have assembled links to three web pages from the NZ Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment.
It is recommended that you go through them all as soon as possible, then come back to this page every three months or so to make sure that you are up-to-date with the latest information on scams.
You might also want to come back here at any time to refresh your memory if you are faced with a possible scam.
Click each of these to view: