Warning about impersonation scams

Inland Revenue is warning people to be wary of social media scams impersonating well known New Zealanders.

An image of a man said to be the Commissioner of Inland Revenue (CIR), Peter Mersi, was used as part of a social media scam inviting people to a closed live webinar on upcoming crypto tax changes.

Inland Revenue's Service Owner - Cyber Security Stephen Lynch says digital platforms use sophisticated algorithms to push this sort of content to people based on the user's search history.

"The image (shown below) is not Peter Mersi. Incorrect versions of the IR logo are used in other ads in the series, and the invitation is not from anyone at Inland Revenue," Stephen Lynch says.

"We believe whoever is behind the campaign is using false, probably AI generated, images and messaging to trick people into giving out personal information which is then used to access online accounts or steal someone's identity.

"Inland Revenue investigates and searches for scams so we can pass the details on to the social media platforms they appear on to have the ads taken down. Following notifications to Meta, this series of ads claiming to be from IR was taken down only to reappear, slightly altered, the next day.

"Unfortunately, the use of images and artificially generated likenesses is on the increase with investment scams on social media platforms and websites being a major contributor to New Zealanders losing $265 million dollars to fraud last year."

In the three months to the end of February, Inland Revenue received more than 3000 reports of scams from the public via its scam reporting email - [email protected].

"Ignore or delete any ads like those used," Stephen Lynch says.

"To protect yourself use Ad-blockers when browsing the web, change social media settings to restrict or limit ads, and change settings to block calls and texts from unknown numbers.

"From past experience, we know that scammers are aware of important tax periods and increase their attempts to rip off Kiwis. For example, at the end of the tax year or when we start to send out assessments mid-year. We're asking taxpayers to be extra vigilant and watch out for scammers."

There is more information online on the Inland Revenue website https://www.ownyouronline.govt.nz/personal/know-the-risks/common-risks-and-threats/scams-and-fraud/ and at Scams and fraud - Own Your Online.