How to stay safe

Scammers or fraudsters may be on dating sites and social networks setting up fake profiles. Scammers may pose using fake pictures and claiming to be from New Zealand or working overseas. Successful scammers are good at grooming you; they ask lots of questions about what you want in your life. They will be thoughtful, caring and ‘looking for a soul mate’. Once the relationship is established, they will seek financial assistance.

Other scams involve social media. For example, scams where the victim is blackmailed using compromising photos or videos like in the ‘Ashley Madison’ case.

Visit Netsafe’s website (external link) to find out more.

Checklist for avoiding dating, romance and social media scams

• Know who you're dealing with. If you've only ever met someone online, do some research. Search the internet for others who may have had dealings with them.

• Use Google Images to check if a person’s profile photo is being widely used across the internet. Read Netsafe’s Identifying a romance scammer using a Google Images search (external link) .

• Beware of any requests for your details or money. Never send money or share credit card details, online account details or copies of personal documents online or via email.

• Don't agree to transfer money or goods for someone else. Money laundering is a criminal offence.

• Don’t accept unknown friend requests on Facebook, LinkedIn or other social media sites. Set your privacy settings so that only your friends can view your social media content. Don’t post personal information, phone or address details.

• Taking you off the site. Be wary if someone you’re chatting to asks to start emailing you directly, rather than through the dating site.

• Remember that once an image has been shared you lose control of it. Someone else may take the photo or video and share it.

• Use two-factor authentication to secure your accounts: Secure your most important accounts using two-factor authentication. You may notice unusual account activity or prevent new devices getting access to your accounts unless they are approved by you. Read Netsafe’s What is two factor authentication? (external link) to find out more.

Keep up to date with scam alerts on our website or Facebook page (external link) .

Find out about the scams

Dating website scams

Someone starts connecting with you through a dating service. You get to know the person, perhaps over weeks or months. You start to feel a really strong bond. All of a sudden they request a short-term loan for some personal crisis.

You trust them so you want to help. They’ll probably have a convincing story. You send them money. Before long they ask for more and so on. Once they’ve taken all they can, your new love will disappear and your money will be gone. No one wants to think that they could be taken advantage of by an internet dating scam and yet hundreds of people are every single year.

If you get requests for money from an online dating contact it is almost certainly a scam!

Online intimate photos, videos and blackmail

The opportunity for blackmail may arise if you are persuaded into compromising situations and the scammer uses their webcam camera to capture images of you. These images can be used later on to blackmail you. This can also occur with naked photos that you send by mobile phone to others (‘sexting’).

Know your rights – complaints process

A new ‘safe harbour’ complaints process has been set up for online hosts to follow under the Harmful Digital Communications Act. This allows you to request the removal of harmful or illegal content posted by others. If your service provider removes the content, then no criminal liability attaches to your online host or service provider.

Read Harmful Digital Communications Act to find out more about your rights.

Social media scams

Social media is a gift to scammers. From fake Facebook pages to malicious applications and advertisements, social media scams are not always easy to spot. These types of scams include:

• Fake business profiles: Anyone can set up a social media page including ‘businesses’. Reputable companies use social media to connect with and keep customers up to date with what’s going on in their business. They will never use it to ask you for money.
• Phishing emails: Fake social media sites can be used to steal your social media identity. You’ll receive an email that appears to be from the social media site asking you for your login or credit card details. You’ll be directed to a realistic but fake login page. Social media sites will never ask you for financial information in relation to security. Nor will they email you attachments or links.
• Fake advertising: Not all advertisements are for genuine offers. You also need to be aware that clicking on some advertisements may launch spyware that gives scammers a direct route into your computer.
• Single sign-on: If you use one name and password to access multiple applications (single sign-on) and your social media account is compromised, all the other sites and applications that use your social media account to ‘sign on’ are vulnerable too. Moreover, some sites and applications can implement single sign-on badly, giving attackers an opportunity to take over accounts.

Cease all contact with the scammer

Often, if you are the victim of a scam you may be in denial. Once you’ve realised you are being scammed, stop all contact and avoid sending further payments.

Social media sites like Facebook and Instagram don’t allow nude images. If you have a complaint about a photo or video posted on these sites without your consent you can contact the site administrator to request that the offending material be removed.

Block the scammer if you have been scammed online. Don’t reply to emails or letters that scammers have sent you.

Unfortunately, if you have been scammed, the chances of recovering your money are not good.

Contact your bank

If you are the victim of a financial scam or credit card scam, contact your bank immediately. They will have a policy in place to deal with fraud.

Read Resolve a problem for more information.

Do not fall for a ‘recovery’ scam

Don't give anybody any more money on the promise that they will get your lost money back. It's just another scam. Don't believe them if they say they are from a government agency and they want you to play along with a ‘sting’ operation.

Report a scam

Report scams online to Netsafe.org.nz (external link) or 0508 638 723. They will direct you to the organisation best able to investigate or advise you on various types of scams, frauds and spam messages. This information may be used to compile data and publish scam alerts based on the most commonly reported scams.

Next steps

If you are unable to resolve your issue directly, our Resolve It tool has information to help you take the next steps. These may include going to the Disputes Tribunal or District Court.

>  Resolve IT: Scams

Need more help?

Contact the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment's (MBIE) Consumer helpline for more guidance.

Common situations

Online dating scam

Oliver is a widower who decides to go online to find a partner. He finds an online dating site and joins up. After a few weeks he becomes interested in a woman called Jane living in Ireland. They have a lot of shared interests and get on well by email. After four months, Jane sends him an email asking for money to help pay some urgent medical expenses for her son. She says she is unable to pay for these and that she will pay him back.

Oliver trusts her and sends the money by internet bank transfer. Jane gets back to him and says things have become more serious – her son needs another treatment. She has more savings but can’t access it right now; it will be available next month. Oliver sends her more money. After a few payments his daughter gets suspicious, she calls Netsafe and they confirm this was a scam. Oliver does not believe it.

Social media scam

Cieran just received an urgent request from one of her close friends who ‘lost his wallet on vacation and needs some cash to get home’. She sends some money right away, following his instructions. But there’s a problem: Your friend never sent this request. In fact, he isn’t even aware of it. His computer had a virus which grabbed all of his contacts and forwarded the fake email to his contacts. Cieran will need to get her computer checked to see if it is infected too.

Phishing Request

Mark receives an email with the subject line: ‘Somebody just put up these pictures of Mark drunk at this wild party!’ Immediately, he clicks on the enclosed link, which takes him to his Facebook login page. After he has entered his account info a scammer now has his password, along with total control of his account.