Scammers impersonating police have tried enticing victims with a financial lure.

The text scam is now on the radar of the real police.

One version of the con seen in a text a Kiwi social media user uploaded stated: “In the last 12 months our records have shown a bank account number linked to this phone was incorrectly debited.”

The text was sent from a New Zealand mobile phone number.

 “If you are entitled to a refund a direct credit has been authorized to be refunded directly back to the account linked to this number,” the text added.

It then asked the recipient to visit a website with a URL similar to that one might expect police to use.

The text used American spellings.

Police confirmed the messages were part of a scam campaign in circulation.

“The text will try to get you to click on a link that looks similar to the official NZ Police site but isn’t real,” a police spokeswoman said today.

“This is a scam and anyone who receives it should not respond under any circumstances.”

• NZ Police working with Hungary over Team NZ scam
• Warnings over phone scammers impersonating police
• Police issue warnings of Facebook Marketplace scam

She added: “Please remember Police will never contact you out of the blue by text for any enforcement reason with an embedded link.”

Police said anybody who received a similar text should report it to the Department of Internal Affairs.

The DIA has a text scam and anti-spam awareness service.

Overseas, losses incurred by text scam victims have reportedly surged in recent years.

CBS News on Friday reported US consumers lost $330 million (NZ$538m) to fraudulent texts alone last year.

That was up from $131m in 2021 and $86m the year before.

In New Zealand, scams in recent months have included Facebook profile cloning, Valentine’s Day scams, fake extortion and catfish Casanova scams, and special tax season scams.

FOR HELP

Internal Affairs anti-spam and scam awareness: Forward text scams for free to 7726

Cert NZ: Individuals, small businesses can report a cyber attack, get advice: www.cert.govt.nz

Financial Markets Authority: https://www.fma.govt.nz/scams/

Privacy Commissioner: Complaints about privacy breaches. 0800 803 909 or privacy.org.nz/your-rights/making-a-complaint/

ID fraud: Internal Affairs advice: dia.govt.nz/Identity - Are-you-a-victim-of-identity-theft

IDCare: Assistance freezing your credit record, regaining control of your online identity after an ID theft: idcare.org

Netsafe: Report online bullying, hate speech, dangerous content: netsafe.org.nz

NZ Police: Report cybercrime online scams, online child safety issues: police.govt.nz/advice-services/cybercrime-and-internet