A financial dispute resolution service says consumers need to be vigilant about fraud, following a noticeable increase in complaints around financial scams over the past year.

"From fraudulent transactions on travel cards, to merchants losing money when a consumer asked for a chargeback after receiving goods, we have seen a wide range of sophisticated incidents of fraud this year," says Financial Services Complaints chief executive Susan Taylor.

One of the most notable areas they are seeing an increase in is in fraudulent investments, including "bitcoin' scams" she says.

Here people are enticed into investing with what appears to be a reputable company, only to lose their money "and sometimes quite substantial amounts of money", Taylor says.

To protect themselves against scammers, she said people should make sure they do their homework.

"Don't be rushed into making an investment, particularly with money that you can't afford to lose.

"If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is."

Taylor says it's a common misconception that credit card companies will refund people if they are scammed.

"The circumstances in which consumers can recover funds spent on a credit card are limited. Consumers shouldn't rely on being able to get a refund in place of carefully considering the trustworthiness of who they deal with online."

Usually, by the time the fraud is discovered it's too late to claw the money back, Taylor says.

"If you've authorised the payment, the money has gone and the fraudster has withdrawn the money at their end."

-RNZ.