The Government says it’s committing to new coordinated efforts across industry and the public service to combat online scams.
With it being Fraud Awareness Week, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly says online financial scams are a growing problem for New Zealand.
“New data shows that Kiwis lost nearly $200 million to scammers in the last year.
“Considering estimates suggest that only one in five scams are reported, the real losses to New Zealanders are significantly higher,” says Bayly, the MP for Port Waikato.
“Tackling online financial scams is part of our plan to rebuild the economy and crack down on crime by supporting Kiwis to safely transact and do business online.
“The fast-evolving nature of digital technology and the complexity of online scams – with most originating offshore – means that scam detection, prevention and response has largely fallen between the cracks of industry and government.
“To address this, I’ve been appointed the lead minister to coordinate activity and bring together industry and government partners.
“There’s a lot of good work already going on to prevent and respond to scams, but it’s siloed, disjointed and, in many cases, unsophisticated.
“For example, there’s no centralised, instantaneous method for reporting scams, which hampers our ability to respond quickly.
“Similarly, the focus has largely been on closing down individual scams, rather than developing systemic solutions.”
Bayly says as the lead anti-scams minister, his plan includes three key components:
- Coordinate work across ministerial portfolios and public sector agencies to improve information sharing.
- Collaborate with industry to develop industry-led solutions within specific sectors (for example, banks) and between different sectors (such as information sharing between telecommunications and banks).
- Engage with ministerial counterparts in Australia and Singapore to establish a coordinated regional approach.
“It’s time we take decisive steps to tackle this issue head on,” Bayly says.
“By enhancing our coordination efforts and tapping into international expertise, we can significantly improve our effectiveness in tackling this pervasive problem and prevent more Kiwis from becoming victims.”
