New 'IRD' phone scam threatens victims with police action

  • 19/05/2018
New 'IRD' phone scam threatens victims with police action
Photo credit: File

A new phone scam is sweeping the country that threatens to get the police involved if victims don't pay up.

But police are warning people to ignore the scammers, who claim to be from the IRD.

Numerous reports have been made to the police from people saying they were told they owed money, and if they don't pay they would be arrested.

"This is a scam!" police said in a statement.

"These scammers will often say you need to pay them with iTunes vouchers - so if you work in retail please be aware of people buying large amounts of vouchers and check with them that they are not being scammed."

Police say many different numbers are being used in the scam, and ask anyone who receives a call to report the number to their phone provider to block it from calling more people.

Suspicious calls or emails can also be reported to phishing@ird.govt.nz and on the NetSafe website.

Newshub.