NZ investors targeted by scammers: Why advisers need to take note

John Bolton

A recently released report from the FMA has revealed that since the outbreak of Covid there has been a notable rise in financial scams targeting New Zealand investors.

The report revealed that there had been a rise in fraudsters impersonating legitimate New Zealand companies in attempted scams. It also showed that one in five Kiwis had been approached by an investment scammer.

While the FMA’s report was focused on consumers as the targets of scams, there are many that believe that advisers should also be concerned.

One of these is John Bolton, founder and managing director of Squirrel Mortgage Brokers. Bolton says, “I come from a corporate environment, where we are always asking ‘what are the big risks in your business?’. And then you get into 'adviser land' and might think that the main risk is that you stuff up some investment or insurance advice. But the biggest risk in the industry is a company assuming they are too small to be cyber-attacked.”