A common scam targeting visa-holders is doing the rounds again and Immigration New Zealand (INZ) is urging people to be on the alert and not to be taken in.

The scam sees visa-holders contacted by a person pretending to be from Immigration New Zealand. They are demanding money to be sent to them, in order to maintain or correct their immigration status in New Zealand. This is a scam.

Callers are posing as INZ staff and demanding payment from people to avoid deportation for various reasons, including incorrectly completing an arrival card and a failed police check.

The scammers are using a technology known as caller ID spoofing scam that allows a legitimate phone number to appear when the call is actually being made from another number.

People who receive such calls should hang up immediately and report them to Police.

How to recognise if the call is a scam

1. The caller tells the person that there has been a problem with their visa or arrival card information.
2. They demand they pay money into a Western Union account or face serious consequences, such as deportation.
3. Often the callers have some details of the person they are speaking to such as their name, date of birth or address so the calls appear genuine.
4. Their caller ID comes up with 09 914 4100 or 0508 558 855.