At least $35 million was lost to scams and fraud in New Zealand this year, according to Netsafe.
The online safety organisation said there had been a 90% increase in reports of scams, fraud and online harm this year compared to 2021.
It received 15,384 complaints related to fraud or scams, a 20% increase compared to the previous year. This is in addition to the 28,253 reports relating to disclosure of sensitive personal information, harmful hate speech, privacy breaches and child sexual abuse material.
Netsafe said this year’s complaint numbers were the highest it had seen in its 24-year history.