[xh ] Fraud Awareness Week: Govt creates new scam protections
A 'safe harbour' legal protection will be established for online service providers that take reasonable steps to disrupt suspected scams. Photo: 123rf.com
The government is introducing new legal protections so banks, telecommunications providers and digital platforms can block online scams faster.
Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Scott Simpson said too many people were being ripped off by scams that spread through fake websites, texts and social media.
The coalition government is introducing a 'safe harbour' legal protection for online service providers that take reasonable, good faith steps to disrupt suspected scams, Simpson said.
"Entities tell us they want to pull these scams down earlier, but they worry about being prosecuted if they accidentally take down a legitimate customer or website. These changes give them more confidence to act when something looks wrong."
"This is about fast, decisive action to combat scammers. If a bank wants to pause a suspicious payment, or a telco wants to block a fake website link in a text campaign, we want them to be able to do that promptly without looking over their shoulder."
The safe harbour will include conditions to protect legitimate customers and businesses. It will only apply where:
- the provider has reasonable grounds to think the activity or website is a scam.
- The action taken is reasonable and proportionate to the risk.
- Any disruption to legitimate customers or businesses is corrected as soon as it is discovered.
Simpson said the work supported the New Zealand Anti Scam Alliance, a cross-sector group bringing together government agencies, banks, telecommunications providers, digital platforms and consumer representatives to prevent, detect and disrupt scams.
The alliance was also exploring a "trusted flagger" system, where regulators and law enforcement could provide reliable information about suspected scams to online providers, helping them distinguish scams from legitimate activity and act with greater confidence.
The minister said Payments NZ had reported gross scam losses of about $265 million through New Zealand bank accounts in the past year alone.
"Those numbers are too high. We need a prevention first approach, where scams are blocked as early as possible."
The New Zealand Banking Association has also announced a new fraud intelligence tool to help stop scammers using "mule" accounts to move stolen money through the banking system.
The system will help banks:
- Identify and share information about suspected mule accounts more quickly.
- Freeze funds before they are moved on.
- From 30 November, meet their commitment to warn customers if they are about to send money to a high risk account.
"This technology will help banks move faster when money is at risk, and it fits well with the government's push to give providers more confidence to intervene early," Simpson said.
"Scams are constantly evolving, and no single organisation can tackle them on their own," Simpson said. "These changes are about backing the providers who see scams first, and giving them the tools and confidence to shut them down faster."
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