A “phony” interest rates comparison website may have been a front for harvesting New Zealanders’ personal details, the financial regulator says.
The Financial Markets Authority (FMA) warned on Friday that it believed the website “Compare Fixed Term Deposits” was collecting information to be used by criminals to sell fake investments.
The site claimed to offer consumers comparisons of all registered and regulated fixed-income investments in NZ, and find the highest rates, the FMA said in a press release.
But the website did not contain any comparison information, rather asking users to fill out a form with their personal details so a third party could contact them.
It urged consumers to “exercise extreme caution” with the site.
The regulator said it was encouraging people to come forward "with any similar experience".
FMA response and enforcement executive director Paul Gregory said the FMA strongly encouraged New Zealanders to only deal with locally-registered entities.
He said if someone was pushing consumers into an investment opportunity, people needed to step back and ask themselves why they were being offered the deal, whether it was legitimate, and not to be rushed into investing.
“Hit the pause button before sending or committing any of your money to people you cannot truly verify. Most often with scams like these, your money is transferred overseas and it is incredibly difficult for New Zealand authorities to get back.”
The FMA said it had received 154 complaints about investment scams and fraud and issued 40 public warnings about scams "and other non-compliant entities" from January to June 2023.
It said comparison sites were often presented in search results when people were searching for investment opportunities.
Phony sites would often be presented alongside legitimate comparison sites and appear because they are paid for, sponsored links, rather than genuine search results, it said.
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