$300,000 inheritance lost to scam

‘‘I kick myself every day. What a dumb move.’’ Defrauded investor

A man has lost his $300,000 inheritance in an elaborate but fake investment scheme that promised big returns.

The Waikato resident, who talked to Stuff on the basis of anonymity, scrolled his way into a scam when he saw an advertisement on social media featuring Sir Dave Dobbyn talking about his investment with the company Super1Investments.

The 59-year-old was promised returns of 400 per cent to 600 per cent, but instead he lost everything.

His father died about a year ago, leaving an inheritance that had been earned through the family business.

‘‘Dad would be really disappointed,’’ the man told Stuff.

‘‘I kick myself every day. What a dumb move.’’

He could see the red flags with the benefit of hindsight. At the time it seemed legitimate.

The man had been considering spending the inheritance on a new house and business in another city, but investing seemed like a smart idea.

The scammer called himself John Thompson and said he was an American living in England. Thompson provided a photo of himself, but a reverse image search showed it was downloaded from the internet.

‘‘He sounded like he knew what he was talking about. He was pleasant to talk to,’’ the man said.

The first payment was $10,000 at the end of August, to test the investment waters. The scammer told him he had earned $15,000 in one day, and $100,000 in a week. He then made three payments in quick succession of $99,980, $99,950 and $93,000 in September.

The man was given a log-in for an account where he could watch his money gain returns.

The scammers asked for photographs of the man’s face and his licence as proof of identity.

They also gained remote access to his phone via the app AnyDesk.

The man’s plan was to withdraw $15,000 a month to live on, and for the rest to sit in the account and make more money. The first payment never came. ‘‘I didn’t know a lot about [investing] and I told him that. He said, ‘Let me sort it.’ ’’

The scam came to light when his bank contacted him with concerns about the large payments, but it was too late. He was told to get his phone cleaned of viruses, and a system was installed to block scam numbers. This meant the scammer could no longer ring. He disappeared not long after.

The man said he was reluctant to contact the police, because he was ‘‘hoping like hell’’ things would just work out.

The worst part was that the company was still scamming other people, he said. ‘‘How do they get up in the morning and live with themselves? It makes me angry.’’

Police were investigating with the hope of getting some money back.

ID Care New Zealand operations manager Neil Hallett said New Zealanders lost about half a billion dollars in about 1200 scam cases each year, and that was only the tip of the iceberg. ‘‘The more I see, the more I think maybe I am underestimating,’’ he said.

He said celebrity scams were common, using known figures that people trusted. ‘‘We see it quite often, up to and including the prime minister.’’

Investment scams popped up more when banks were offering low interest rates for investment. Once scammed, people were added to a list that was distributed on the dark web.

Scammers often offered to help people get the money back, but for thousands of dollars, he said.