Kiwis have lost a whooping $12 million more to scammers last year than they did five years ago.
The latest figures from internet watchdog NetSafe revealed more and more New Zealanders were falling victim to scams, losing a total of $13.4m in 2015 – more than double the 2014 loss.
As a result, NetSafe are now recording losses, on average, of more than $1m each month.
NetSafe digital project manager Chris Hails said they were a long way from the first annual figures five years ago, when they recorded $769,000 for a 12-month period.
The increase was partly due to the increase of awareness of scammers and confidence to phoning in to lay complaints, he said. They also took “quite a few” referrals from police.
A record 8500 complaints were laid last year – an increase of 6 per cent on 2014.
For full story published 7 Jan. 2015:
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