BERLIN: A new scam threatening to shut down small New Zealand businesses if they don’t pay up is gaining momentum.
NetSafe have received 30 reports since April about a letter that encourages businesses to list with the Corporate Portal New Zealand site.
The letter, claiming to be from from “New Zealand – Companies”, says the target’s details are incomplete and it will be removed from the companies register unless those details are updated.
Companies are advised to update their records and told there will be no charge for basic information. However, if they wish to add more details, they have to fill in a form and pay $1411.
The letter indicated it had been sent on behalf of the New Zealand Companies Office, but the letter does not use the real logo, and the address of a company at the bottom of the page says Hamburg, Germany.
The company behind the offer had been sending out various fake invoices since 2009 from Belgium and Germany, NetSafe digital project manager Chris Hails said, but he had not heard of any business that had paid.
He advised businesses to treat all invoices carefully, check the legitimacy of any offer, and report their concerns to ScamWatch or to NetSafe.
