31 Oct Scams
Do you know who you’re dealing with?
This year has seen the sophistication of scams increase. It used to be someone from the other side of the world email you in broken English with a promise of untold riches if you just give them your credit card number. Now, they send you something that looks exactly like correspondence from your Bank or IRD. They have even gone so far as to recreate mirror images of online banking login pages to dupe you into forking over your banking login.
This year, IRD have sent out an increased number of notifications about scams – both email and phone based, with people purporting to be from the IRD. Indeed, we have been shown some very legitimate looking emails that claim to be from IRD but under closer scrutiny, have been shown to be scams.
Think it’s bad now? According to Time magazine, it’s only going to get worse. It is estimated that 44.6% of mobile phone calls made in the USA next year will be spam of some description. Ouch.
How do you protect yourself?
- Know that scams exist, and they are targeting YOU
- Know who you’re dealing with – check that the person is who they say they are
- Don’t open suspicious texts/email attachments/hyperlinks – delete them
- Miss a call from an unusual looking international number? Don’t call them back
- Having a password like ‘password123’ doesn’t cut it – choose passwords carefully, use different passwords for different accounts and if necessary, use a password manager
- Use social media? Know what your privacy settings are
- An online sale that seems too good to be true? It probably is
- A supplier changes their bank account number? Give them a phone call to make sure its correct
- Keep your devices secure (both with passwords and physically don’t leave them lying around)
Want to know more about protecting yourself from scams? Check out Consumer Protection from MBIE
Get a phone call, email or letter from IRD and want to check out its validity? Contact us.
Speaking of getting ripped off…
A recent Herald article covered the case of a Taupo business that suffered theft by an employee of over $140,000. That’s a lot of money! Unfortunately (just like scams), this sort of behaviour is more prevalent than many of us realise. In fact, it is estimated that a significant amount of theft by employees or those in positions of trust goes unreported.
Do you have someone in a position of trust that has access to funds? Our suggestion is 2 fold: Firstly, have a system for tracking your financials – we are big users of Xero. Secondly: Trust but verify – either check their work yourself or have someone objective check what they are doing.
If you want greater visibility of your financials, get in contact.
