Scratch-and-win scammers are trying to stay a step ahead of police, who have stopped thousands of their fake lottery tickets from entering the country.
More than 18,000 have been intercepted by NZ Post in the past few months, after police gave them a description of the envelopes. But the criminals, based in China and Malaysia, have since switched from using plain white envelopes to a range of colours.
"They're a bit like a chameleon - they've changed their spots and now they're sending envelopes in a different format, so that it's much harder for us to find them," says Detective Senior Sergeant Aaron Pascoe.
The scam's a simple one. People receive unsolicited mail personally addressed to them containing two scratchies.
"Funnily enough one is always a winner," says Snr Sgt Pascoe. Prizes range up to $180,000.
"If you were convinced by that, you might ring the number on the back and they would work very hard to convince you that you are actually a genuine winner, and they would get you to do a number of things to claim your prize. Over time they would gain your trust, until eventually they would ask you to pay them about $5000 in local taxes."
People who fall for the scam often end up paying a lot more though.
"Some people, once they start paying the money, it's very, very hard to get them to [stop]. They've got buy-in."
One woman recently lost $64,000. Snr Sgt Pascoe says even well-educated people have fallen prey to the tried-and-true scheme.
"I was standing in the lift bringing a trolley of these into the police station recently, and a colleague was standing next to me and he said, 'Do you mind if I have a look at those?' And he had a look and he goes, 'This is what my mum and dad just fell for.' The bank staff stopped them sending $5000. This is a policeman's parents."
He's not sure how people end up on the scammers' lists, and the only way to stop the scratchies coming is to not send them money.
"If you haven't entered the draw, you're not going to win the prize. There is no prize. There never is."
Newshub.
