Who can you trust when a scammer is posing as a brand you rely on?

Just when you think you are prepared and up to speed on the red flags of a scam, scammers have once again come up with new methods to mislead and steal from trusting Kiwis.

On the rise in New Zealand are cold call scams, where scammers pose as trusted and longstanding brands we all know and rely on. Some of those scammers are even posing as your bank.

ASB Executive Manager of Fraud Operations, Julie Wilton says it's important for Kiwis to question out of the blue phone calls including calls from banks, telcos and other large organisations. In short, be skeptical, she says.

In a lot of cases, the cold call may seem out of the blue, but is the result of people falling victim to a phishing scam.

Often calls come after the victim has entered their personal or banking information into a website a scammer has created. The scammer will then call posing as the bank's fraud department and suggest there had been fraudulent activity on their account.

"The scammer can reference the website where their target entered their details in order to look legitimate and build trust, and then socially engineer them into transferring money to help keep it 'safe'.

"They can also ask people to download remote access software that gives the scammer access to their device, information on it, and can ultimately compromise their bank account details. Downloading this software is like letting the scammer sit in the drivers seat, they can even disable the screen to stop you watching what they are doing.

Wilton says if someone has managed to get remote access to your computer, the best thing to do is to restart the device and delete any programs the scammer got you to download.

"Sometimes they will say 'we want to help protect your money, move it here while we address the concern with your account security'. Other times they will just ask for access to your computer and then prompt you to log into your internet banking. Then they will make payments out of the victim’s account."

With scammers posing as the very people Kiwis are trusting to help protect them from scams and fraud across Aotearoa, the red flags are getting harder to spot, she says.

"We recently had a customer call us on our 24/7 ASB FRAUD phone line, who had received a call from someone claiming to be from ASB. This was a scammer who said the customer's accounts had been hacked and that someone had attempted to use their card to make a payment. The scammer asked the customer to download a remote software app on to their device and asked for their driver's licence number.

"While the scammer had access to the customer's internet banking, they made a payment of more than $4,000 to another account. Fortunately, we were successful in recovering the full amount, however this isn't always the case as scammers quickly transfer funds overseas, making it difficult to recover the funds in most cases."

Wilton said banks are not the only target.

"Scammers will impersonate telcos, government agencies, investment firms, and a range of what are considered reputable companies to steal your personal details and commit identity fraud. There is a level of trust behind well-known companies, so people will often do what they are prompted to do.

"Because of this implied level of trust and increasing sophistication of scams, we are all potential victims, so it's important to be vigilant and question whether a cold call or request is legitimate. If in doubt just hang up and call the company back on its publicly listed number. Ask to talk to the person you’ve been dealing with to check they really work there."

Wilton said ASB and other banks are always innovating and working towards the most up-to-date solutions to help prevent fraud.

ASB alone has more than 350 people working on combatting financial crime, scams and fraud, from fraud analytics to detection and investigations, and ensuring ASB meets its anti-money laundering obligations.

Alongside this, the bank has technology teams that focus on scams and fraud, enhancing controls to digital banking and alerting customers to scams.

"Scams and fraud are constantly evolving and ASB has invested in implementing a state-of-the-art AI, machine learning fraud detection system to support our efforts in combatting new and emerging threats.

"When we see new types of fraud and scam activity, we will act at pace to help protect our customers.

"Customers are a big part of alerting us too, it is so important for us to hear directly from them as soon as possible, if they believe their banking credentials may have been compromised or that they may have been exposed to a scam."

ASB's Fraud Detection system looks to identify behaviour that is out of the ordinary for the customer on their cards. When unusual card activity is detected by the bank, they have methods in place to contact customers on the activity observed. An example of this is where customers are alerted instantly through their ASB Mobile App and asked if they have made the transaction. Since this functionality was launched in 2022, it has prevented more than 24,000 payments where customers have confirmed the activity is fraudulent, stopping this money going into the hands of scammers.

If you think you have fallen victim to a scam, stop all contact, avoid sending further payments, change your password and contact your bank immediately. If you're an ASB customer, you can call its 0800 ASB FRAUD (0800 272 372) line 24/7, they are there to help.

When you receive a call from ASB, they will never ask:

For remote access to your account, computer or device.

For any code which has been sent to your phone.

For you to make a payment "to keep your money safe".

For you to help them investigate a 'dishonest' staff member.

When you receive a call from ASB, they will:

Encourage you to call back on their publicly listed number (on the ASB website) if you are concerned about the legitimacy of the call.

Reassure you that they are taking care of any suspicious or fraudulent activity.

They may ask you to confirm some account activity but they don’t need your help to "secure" your account.

For more information, visit ASB's Scam Hub.