Police have arrested two people over an alleged "sophisticated phone scam" which they say has seen people lose hundreds of thousands of dollars. Detective Sergeant Kevin Blackman said police had received hundreds of phone calls since making a public appeal for information. "The scam involves callers claiming to be from Spark and/or police before convincing victims to withdraw or to transfer tens of thousands of dollars from their bank accounts." "A police officer will never ask for your bank details over the phone or ask you to transfer money," he said. Blackman urged anyone who believed they were a victim of a scam, or knew someone who had handed over money, to contact their local police station with "urgency".

Source: Otago Daily Times July 04, 2019 21:11 UTC