Michael Carley –
Immigration New Zealand (INZ) has become aware of a new wave of scam phone calls from individuals purporting to be Immigration Officers.
The scam has been going on since mid-2013 and appears to target only Indian nationals.
INZ has received about 300 complaints to date with a total of approximately $70,500 paid by 33 customers.
Callers pose as INZ staff and demand payment from people to avoid deportation for various reasons, including incorrectly completing an arrival card and a failed police check.
Spoofing Scam
Perpetrators are using a technology known as caller id spoofing scam that allows a legitimate phone number to appear when the call is actually being made from another number.
Often, the scammers have some details of the person they are speaking to such as their name, date of birth or address so the calls appear genuine.
But I want to make it clear that these calls are not from INZ.
We would never make demands for money such as this over the phone and no matter how important the caller may sound, they should not pay, but report the call to the Police.
Further details of variations on this scam, along with advice on what to do if you think you have been the victim of a scam, can be found on www.consumeraffairs.govt.nz
Michael Carley is Area Manager (Operations Support) of Immigration New Zealand
