A reminder to members of the public, Government agencies will never call you to ask for your bank account or credit card details by phone.
The Embassy of the People's Republic of China in NZ, have received multiple calls from members of the public today who have missed a call and received a voicemail from the ‘Embassy’ either yesterday or today.
The voicemails that have been left on people’s phones are in relation to a variety of topics, such as they have property to pick up from the Embassy, their credit card has been used without authority or they need to call a phone number in Beijing.
At this stage we are not aware of anyone who has been scammed out of money as a result of this, however we do urge people to be cautious.
They have used technology to enable them to use the Embassy’s number to make these calls, so if you receive a call and the person on the line asks for money, do not engage with them, and hang up. The Embassy will never ask for these details from you over the phone.
If you think you’ve been scammed, we urge you to report the incident as soon as possible to your nearest police station and warn your friends and family so others in the community are also aware – particularly the more vulnerable members of our community.
ENDS
Issued by Police Media Centre.