An Otaki man is far more aware of scammers after an experience selling his car online turned sour.
Fraud Awareness Week kicked off yesterday. It is estimated that Kiwis lose $448 million to scams each year.
Contractor Stephen Pitcher, 28, listed his Subaru stationwagon on Trade Me for $2500 about a month ago. Soon after, he was contacted by a potential buyer overseas who said he would pay more than the car was worth – offering $3000.
Pitcher said the buyer told him the only way he could pay would be through Paypal.
“He was a navy officer and he was out at sea at the time so he couldn’t pay for the shipping fee, so he asked me to pay for it for him.”
The buyer offered to put $4000 in a PayPal account which Pitcher could supposedly access after the sale was finalised. All that Mr Pitcher had to do was part with the shipping costs first.
After paying $990, Pitcher began to get suspicious when he was asked for more money to cover insurance.
“It was a big hassle in the end. He still followed up like he wanted to buy the car – he is still contacting me at the moment wondering if he can buy the car.
“Trade Me told me not to deal with him no more so I’ve sold the car to someone else. It all just turned sour.”
After advice from Trade Me and the Consumer Affairs Ministry, Pitcher decided to sell the car to someone else but regrets losing almost $1000 to the scammer.
“I wasn’t aware of these sorts of things and now definitely I’m a whole lot more aware of how to deal with things. Just be careful because it’s money and it’s real, and scams do happen.”
A Trade Me spokesman said the company had heard of this “freight forwarding” scam before and it was not limited to Trade Me members.
Scammers’ tricks
Some of the most-prolific or highest-loss scams:
A cold-caller says your computer has a virus and you need to sign up to a contract to fix it. Your computer is then hacked.
You receive an email asking you to update your bank account details so you type in your Pin and password. Your account can be cleaned out.
A “lottery” scam claims you have won an amazing prize – but you first need to send money to cover “fees”. The prize is never delivered. In a dating scam, you get to know someone online. They then need financial help.
Phishing is an attempt to get bank account and credit card numbers and passwords.
Scam stats
The Consumer Affairs Ministry estimates New Zealanders lose hundreds of millions of dollars to scams each year.
Scams are difficult to measure and are often underreported, but the internet is making it easier and easier for scammers to reach New Zealanders.
Reports show that one in 10 people approached will hand over money. The average amount a person loses to a scam would be about $5000.
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