Fraudsters attempt to capitalise on canterbury quake

Scammers have jumped on the Canterbury earthquake as a means to swindle well-meaning Kiwis in a supposed charity-collecting job that offers participants 10% of donations received.

NetSafe issued the following warning about reports of scammers. "The emails, sent from 'James McCoy' and claiming to be from 'Donate4Charity NZ", use a legitimate UK-based charity organisation's name and website address."The emails call for people to receive donated funds into their bank account from overseas for a 10% cut. This is a scam."Leading with the headline "CHRISTCHURCH EARTHQUAKE CHARITY SUPPORT JOB. (READ CAREFULLY)", the emails claim to be from an organisation called "Donate4Charity NZ" – a legitimate UK-based charity – but are in fact the work of fraudsters.

The emails say that,  due to international law, a New Zealand-based manager is necessary to avoid bank charges being applied to international donations. The fraudulent emails go on to say that the 'manager' will receive 10% of each donation. The scam is, in fact, part of a money-laundering scheme designed to process money stolen by criminals conducting other illegal activities.   NetSafe urges anyone who receives this email to delete it and report it to Consumer Affairs organisation Scamwatch tinyurl.com/6zlmfyh). This, however, is not the only fraudulent email circulating after the quake. Another email has been sent out to customers of Kiwibank, claiming that the company had lost certain clients' information in the quake, and urging recipients to click a link and enter their personal banking details, including password, to allow their information to be 'updated'.  A copy of the scam email can be viewed here: tinyurl.com/6zlmfyh