How To Respond: Online Scams
Recognise, Respond, Support:
Online Scams
What are they?
Online scams are tricks designed to steal your personal or financial information or even gain access to your accounts and services.
Scammers often pretend to be someone you trust, like your bank, phone company, or even a friend or celebrity.
Young people can be especially at risk.
Scammers might reach out through social media, online games, emails, or messages.
Some scams promise free prizes or gifts, while others use pressure tactics like blackmail, emotional manipulation, or fake job offers to get what they want.
If you, your child or someone you know is think they have fallen victim to an online scam, support is available and it's important to seek help and advice; you are not alone.
Scams can look real
Online scams aren’t always easy to spot. They’re designed to feel convincing, often appearing in places your child already trusts, like social media, games, or messages.
They might look like:
- a message from a well-known company
- an exciting offer or reward
- a request to click a link or “verify” something
- someone asking for login details or codes
Scammers often create a sense of urgency so people act quickly without stopping to think. Helping your child understand that it’s okay to pause, question, and check can make a big difference in avoiding scams.
Recognising the signs
These may be indicators that something is happening for your young person online:
- Excitement about sudden “wins” or offers
- Requests for money, passwords, or codes
- Sudden loss of access to accounts
- Embarrassment or secrecy after an online exchange, including secrecy around device use or applications
What to do
- Pause, listen and assess the situation
- Look at what has happened, where it is has happened and what support your child needs in the moment
- Ask open questions
- Try top find out what has happened without creating feelings of blame or shame
- Collect evidence
- Take screenshots of messages or transactions. If money has been lost or sent to the scammer, it is important to let the bank know
- Report to the platform
- Use in-app reporting features to report what has happened
- Change passwords
- Resecure the device if the scammer has had access to it, and check for unusual activity on online accounts or social media, including online banking
- Report to Netsafe
- Contact Netsafe for further support if money has been lost or if you need additional support with what to do
Tips to connect and prevent further harm
Depending on the age and stage of your child you might:
- Learn together what scams are and the signs of what to look out for
- Teach them to be aware of “too good to be true” offers and the tactics scammers may use to coerce them into believing the scam
- Encourage checking with you before signing up or buying something online.
- Show them how to spot fake profiles, URLs or websites (including using checknetsafe.nz to check if a website is legitimate)
- Encourage safe habits like multi-factor authentication, privacy checks and keeping passwords up to date
- Share your own examples of scam attempts to normalise talking about scams and the tactics scammers use
- Empower them to protect peers by speaking up about suspicious activity online
Find out more
Visit the Netsafe website to learn more about online scams, how to spot them and the latest scam trends, or to contact the Helpline for advice and support.
