Police are urging Kiwis to be alert to social media scams offering shipping containers for sale, with one key detail missing - the containers don't exist.
Eastern District Police said the containers were being advertised on Facebook Marketplace and some local community pages on social media.
Scammers will offer a cheaper price to those who "buy now".
Police said the scammer will likely have victims blocked or deactivated their Facebook account by the time people realise they've been scammed.
To combat the crime, police released the following advice for shoppers to protect themselves:
- Insist on meeting in person so you can inspect the item for sale before you make a payment to someone you don’t know.
- Do not deposit money into another person’s account before you have received the item.
- Learn more about the person you are buying from - on Marketplace you can tap on a person's profile on the product listing page to see if you have any friends in common, their marketplace activity, and any ratings they may have received.
- Trust your instincts - if it seems too good to be true, it probably is.
"If you are the victim of a scam, please do report it to police - we can only investigate if we know about it, and it's important that these offenders are held to account for their actions," police said.
Anyone affected or with information can make a report by phone on 105 or online at 105.police.govt.nz. Information can also be provided anonymously via Crime Stoppers on 0800 555 111.
