NZ police impersonators steal millions in crypto scam wave

Real police officers do talk to people during investigations, Mills said. They will never call and ask for information about crypto wallets, bank cards, PINs, passwords or seed phrases. A phone number or email address on the screen doesn't mean anything because scammers can fake real police contact information, he said.

The police advised anyone concerned that a caller is not genuine to ask for the officer's details, then hang up and call the police. New Zealand's National Cyber Security Center told people to watch for urgent calls asking for software, money or access to their accounts or devices.

Similar warnings have appeared across the Tasman. Between July 3 and 7, residents of Queensland fell victim to a different phishing attack, with more than $1.47 million in losses reported to Queensland's Financial and Cyber Crime Group. Victims of that scheme received a physical letter containing their personal information and a QR code that led to a website claiming to host a security update.

A 70-year-old chartered accountant from Gwalior, India, lost roughly $2.2 million after being friended on social media and taken to a fake trading platform, Cryptopolitan reported. The platform had shown fake early gains, then scammers refused to return his money.

US cryptocurrency losses hit $11.4 billion in 2025, an increase of 22% from the prior year, according to FBI data.

The New Zealand cases underscore a wider trend: contact methods now range from phone calls to physical letters to social media friending. The FBI and local authorities say the common thread is urgency. No legitimate official asks for wallet keys or passwords over the phone.