The warning comes as the FMA responds to a rise in complaints about investment scams and fraud lodged with the regulator in the first half of this year – up 79% on the same period in 2020.

From January to June 2021, the FMA received 158 complaints about investment scams and fraud – up from the 88 complaints received during the same period in 2020, when the pandemic began and up 49% on the 106 complaints in the first half of 2019.

From January to June 2021, the FMA issued 36 public warnings about suspected scams and other non-compliant entities – up 29% on the 28 warnings issued during the same period in 2020, and up 80% the 20 issued in the first half of 2019.

The FMA has noted a rise in three new types of scams:

1. Social media contact scams: scammers using social media platforms to identify and/or make contact with possible victims – friending and messaging them, asking questions or making suggestions in post comments, conducting fake surveys.
2. Romance-investment hybrid scams: targeting prospective victims on popular dating apps, winning people’s trust with sophisticated back-stories and accomplices, before convincing victims to transfer money overseas to buy supposed investments.
3. Impostor websites: using the names, logos, addresses, certifications and other details of legitimate NZ businesses, to fool investors that the website and/or its managers are part of, or associated with, the legitimate business.

More information about how to spot investment scams can be found on the FMA website.