Netsafe is urging Kiwis to be cautious around the end of the tax year as new scams emerge offering refunds while impersonating Inland Revenue.
Some people have reported receiving an email scam addressed from Inland Revenue, but the email address refers to @onlinecoliss.com.
"In a year of unprecedented times and bad news, we have some good news for you," the email reads.
"You are due a tax refund AND it's worth more than $500."
The email, which features imagery used in other Inland Revenue materials, asks the person to log in and update their details to get the refund.
Netsafe told Newshub they have received 418 reports of the tax refund scams over the past twelve months.
There are typically increases in scam reports around August/September and February/March each year - the end of the financial year - which is Friday.
"It's important to remain extra alert to unprompted emails or when giving out personal info including financial details," a spokesperson said.
"Phishing is when someone tries to get personal information (like bank account numbers and passwords), from a large audience, so they can use it to impersonate or defraud people. These attempts can look very real, and some will even use the branding and logos of a legitimate organisation to make the email seem genuine."
CEO Martin Cocker said scammers are increasingly using more sophisticated techniques to lure people in.
"For a long time, people relied on the adage of 'if it seems too good to be true, it probably is' to protect themselves from scams. This message is outdated and no longer reflects the sophisticated nature of how scammers operate," he said.
"It's timely as the numbers to Netsafe show a 360 percent jump in online incidents during Easter break since 2017 and most of these reports relate to scams. Netsafe is warning people to be careful when it comes to online scams this long weekend as Easter is when the internet is most dangerous – compared with the rest of the year – in terms of scammer activity."
