Innocent Kiwis lost more than $35 million to online scammers this year as parasitic cyber criminals devise even more cunning ploys to prey on people’s trust and steal their money.

Not-for-profit online watchdog Netsafe has just released its annual report into online harm.

The agency recorded more than 28,000 complaints this year - a 90 per cent jump on 2021 figures, ranging from disclosure of sensitive personal information and harmful hate speech to privacy breaches and child sexual abuse material.

The number of reported frauds or scams jumped 20 per cent to more than 15,000, with New Zealanders losing more than $35m in the last 12 months.

Netsafe CEO Brent Carey said this year’s numbers were the highest Netsafe had seen in its 24-year history.

 “More than half the complaints were scams and we didn’t receive any funding for trying to help the victims. Ram raids have been one of the country’s biggest problems this year, but digital ram raids have tallied over tens of millions in damage and they aren’t getting the same attention.

“Our data shows it’s a significant problem that needs addressing. We need funding to be able to start victim remediation work and help people who were scammed financially recover.”

The annual report listed investment scams as the most common, followed closely by relationship and trust fraud. In most cases, a scam artist posed as someone from a bank, utility service or government and conned the victim out of thousands of dollars.

Netsafe online safety operations manager Sean Lyons said the agency had seen a rise in scams combining both investment and romance angles, where someone who formed an online relationship might suddenly be offered a crypto investment opportunity.

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Netsafe's online safety operations manager Sean Lyons.

These scams were complex in nature and often involved five-figure financial losses and devasting emotional impacts.

“It’s only when the person becomes suspicious or tries to remove the money from the service they find the entire thing is a sham, the whole thing is a facade, their money’s been pumped into someone else bank account, and they find themselves having been the victim of a long-term scam.”

Lyons said the effect on victims was often significant, both in terms of the financial loss, and the shame and embarrassment of having believed they were in a genuine romantic relationship.

Some victims were reluctant to come forward so the actual amount lost to scammers was difficult to quantify.

Lyons said scamming was a profitable business for the perpetrators. The growing number of reported incidents indicated there was more online fraud occurring.

“The more activity we carry out online, the more exposure we have.”

Lyons said scammers often used a sense of urgency to pressure victims into making rash decisions. He urged people to take a breath and seek independent advice.

People should be wary of being asked to move a transaction to a different online forum, or being asked to make payment by wire transfers or purchasing supermarket gift cards.

Netsafe Chair Colin James said the report’s findings were an opportunity for the entire online safety ecosystem to improve.

“Lockdown periods and disruptions to work patterns have contributed greatly to these numbers, but there is no denying online harm is getting worse every year.

“We need to continue developing new products and services that will keep all New Zealanders safe when surfing the internet. Next year we are hoping to see funding that will strengthen agencies and create new approaches to tackling online harm.”

The Herald has been investigating cyber crime and online bank fraud in recent months, highlighting a series of cases in which victims have lost tens of thousands of dollars, with banks refusing to reimburse the customers in some cases.

CERT NZ says Kiwis lost a record $9m to scammers in the third quarter of this year.