27 October 2016

Auckland Council warns of credit card scam

Auckland Council is warning residents to be vigilant after a customer fell victim to a scam from a person claiming to be from ‘Auckland Council Tele Sales’.

“Auckland Council staff will never ask for credit card or personal banking information by phone to pay rates,” Auckland Council’s Senior Investigation Advisor Maureen Glassey says.

“The council’s call centre staff do remind residents of overdue rates but staff will never ask for your personal banking details by phone,” Ms Glassey says.

“If anyone receives a call of this nature, we would urge them to record, if possible, the number it comes from and contact the police or their bank immediately,” says Ms Glassey.

The woman says she was phoned by someone who said they were from the council and asked to provide her credit card details to make a rates payment.

Ms Glassey says unfortunately the woman gave the caller her credit card details, which were then used to take two large sums of money from her account, totalling approximately $1400.

The name ‘Auckland Council Tele Sales’ has since appeared on the victim’s bank statement.

Auckland Council takes security around customer payment information very seriously, and has an ongoing compliance and monitoring programme to safeguard customer information. The council does not store or retain credit card information on its networks.

Rates payments can be made in person at Auckland Council service centres, on the council’s website or at any Kiwibank or BNZ branch across Auckland.

“In light of this scam, we are asking Auckland residents to be diligent and to check their credit card statements for a similar reference of this nature,” Ms Glassey says.

“We strongly advise that no-one gives out their bank account details over the phone to anyone, regardless of where they say they are from.”

ENDS

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