New Zealand’s FMA warns of rising financial scams

​The Financial Markets Authority (FMA), New Zealand's financial market regulator, revealed on Wednesday that one in every five New Zealanders were a target of financial scams during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

This year, FMA issued 61 fraudulent financial warnings between April 1 and November 5. Out of that total, 21 or 34 percent scammers utilize faked websites and social media identities of the businesses to fruad potential investors.

Earlier, the regulator warned against the scammers impersonating the watchdog as a part of money transfer scams.

"We're constantly vigilant about the scams that are targeting New Zealanders, but it's like cutting the head off a hydra – two more will pop up in its place. You can never stop or warn about them all, and they often operate outside our reach, especially overseas,” FMA director of regulation, Liam Mason said.

FMA also requested citizens to become more vigilant and asked them not to fall for schemes offering high returns.