The government is launching Fraud Awareness Week to enhance industry coordination efforts to combat online scams.

New data shows that Kiwis lost nearly $200 million to scammers in the last year as online financial scams are a growing problem in New Zealand, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly said.

“Considering estimates suggest that only one in five scams are reported, the real losses to New Zealanders are significantly higher,” he said.

Tackling online financial scams is part of the government’s plan to rebuild the economy and crack down on crime by supporting Kiwis safely transacting and doing 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,” Bayly said.

The government has appointed Bayly to coordinate activity and bring together industry and government partners to address this.

“There is a lot of good work already going on to prevent and respond to scams, but it is siloed, disjointed and, in many cases, unsophisticated,” he said.

Bayly emphasized the need for a centralized scam reporting system to improve our response time, noting that the focus has been on shutting down individual scams rather than finding comprehensive solutions.

“It is time we take decisive steps to tackle this issue head-on,' Bayly said.

By enhancing coordination and leveraging international expertise, we can more effectively address this issue and prevent Kiwis from becoming victims.