Source: Radio New Zealand
Inland Revenue say digital platforms use sophisticated algorithms to push content to people based on their search history. 123rf
Commissioner Peter Mersi was used as part of a scam inviting people to a webinar on crypto tax changes 123rf
Even the Commissioner of Inland Revenue cannot avoid being a target for scammers.
The tax department on Thursday warned that people needed to be wary of social media scams impersonating well-known New Zealanders, including commissioner Peter Mersi.
Mersi was used as part of a scam inviting people to a webinar on crypto tax changes.
An image of a man said to be the Commissioner of Inland Revenue (CIR), Peter Mersi, was used as part of a social media scam. IRD/SUPPLIED
The Financial Markets Authority last year warned that scammers were impersonating celebrities, journalists, politicians and financial commentators.
Some were using deepfake videos to promote free investment advice WhatsApp groups and encouraging people to invest in fake investment platforms, it said at the time.
In 2024, a number of fake posts claimed to be RNZ news stories.
IR spokesperson Stephen Lynch said digital platforms were using sophisticated algorithms to push content to people based on their search history.
He said the latest posts did not show Peter Mersi. Incorrect versions of the Inland Revenue logo were being used and the invitation was not from anyone at the department.
“We believe whoever is behind the campaign is using false, probably AI generated, images and messaging to trick people into giving out personal information which is then used to access online accounts or steal someone’s identity.
“Inland Revenue investigates and searches for scams so we can pass the details on to the social media platforms they appear on to have the ads taken down. Following notifications to Meta, this series of ads claiming to be from IR was taken down only to reappear, slightly altered, the next day.
“Unfortunately, the use of images and artificially generated likenesses is on the increase with investment scams on social media platforms and websites being a major contributor to New Zealanders losing $265 million dollars to fraud last year.”
Lynch said Inland Revenue had received more than 3000 reports of scams from the public in the three months to the end of February.
He said scammers were aware of important tax periods and increased their efforts at that time.
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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand
