An online security firm reported losing a total 982,000 dollars from online fraud in 1500 separate incidents in the past year. Reported losses from romance and online dating scams, which is generally a source of major frauds, almost doubled to more than 674,000 dollars. <img alt="Sex and relationships, online dating fraud in New Zealand" src="http://images.mid-day.com/2012/aug/online-dating-fraud.jpg" style="width: 500px; height: 509px; " /> The modus operandi that fraudsters usually followed was to befriend vulnerable women online and later claim to urgently need large sums of money for an overseas financial emergency. The firm&#39;s website operates in collaboration with the police, the Consumer Affairs Ministry and other government agencies which lets people report frauds by merely clicking on an &ldquo;online reporting button&rdquo;. The charity had claimed in June that cyber-crime cost the country &ldquo;as much as 625 million dollars&rdquo; in financial losses after the time and expense in sorting issues, such as removing malware, was included. The estimate was extrapolated from international surveys that were carried out by a popular anti-virus firm, which sells security software. The security firm&#39;s consultant acknowledged that the anti-virus software company&#39;s figures had been questioned and said that there was no single source of reliable figures. But he said the losses reported to its Orb website would be the &ldquo;tip of the iceberg&rdquo; because it was quite possible that many people suffered in silence. The firm&#39;s executive director Martin Cocker said that online scams and fraud made up a large chunk of the 1500 reported incidents. &ldquo;There has been a decline in reports about cold calling technical support companies and a rise in the number of people having their online accounts hacked,&rdquo; an online news report quoted him as saying. &ldquo;As well as suffering financial losses, many people are struggling to deal with the emotional turmoil and stress caused by online break-ins to their email and social networking accounts,&rdquo; he said. Apart from rising losses from dating scams there had also been a marked rise in the number of complaints about online trading, including penny auction sites. &ldquo;With more people now shopping online and looking overseas for bargains, many people have fallen victim to fake websites that never deliver the goods they&rsquo;ve paid for,&rdquo; he said. He further advised people to think of strong, unique passwords for important online accounts and to be suspicious of spam or phishing messages, which directed them to malicious or fake websites. &ldquo;If you&rsquo;re looking to buy online always be cautious of websites you haven&rsquo;t dealt with before and if the price seems too good to be true take some time to research the company. Google their name and the words &lsquo;review&rsquo; or &lsquo;scam&rsquo; to see if other customers have had problems in the past,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;Lastly, avoid sending money by wire transfer to people you don&rsquo;t know and if you buy online use a credit card and discuss any problem transactions with your bank,&rdquo; he added.

The amount of money New Zealanders lost to online dating scams has doubled in the past year and now makes up almost two-thirds of all reported online fraud losses

Online dating fraud soars in New Zealand

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Online dating fraud soars in New Zealand

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