New Zealanders are being warned fraud cases are on the rise as Fraud Awareness Week begins.
Financial Services Complaints which is a financial dispute resolution service said consumers needed to be vigilant about fraud, following a noticeable increase in complaints around financial scams over the past year.
“From fraudulent transactions on travel cards, to merchants losing money when a consumer asked for a chargeback after receiving goods, we have seen a wide range of sophisticated incidents of fraud this year,” chief executive Susan Taylor said.
One of the most notable areas they were seeing an increase in was in fraudulent investments, including “bitcoin’ scams” she said.
Here people were enticed into investing with what appeared to be a reputable company only to lose their money “and sometimes quite substantial amounts of money”, Taylor said.
In one case an investor lost $50,000 after scammers replicated the website of a reputable investment company, while another was scammed $13,000 while using a credit card to purchase bitcoin.
“How these frauds often work is that you invest a little bit of money and you do see a positive return in your account,” Susan Taylor said.
“And then you’re enticed into sending more money – so they really set you up.
“And then when you send the second lot of money, that’s usually then when all the money disappears.”
To protect themselves against scammers, she said people should make sure they do their homework.
“Don’t be rushed into making an investment, particularly with money that you can’t afford to lose,” Taylor said.
“If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.”
Taylor said it was a common misconception that credit card companies would refund people if they were scammed.
“The circumstances in which consumers can recover funds spent on a credit card are limited. Consumers shouldn’t rely on being able to get a refund in place of carefully considering the trustworthiness of who they deal with online.”
Usually, by the time the fraud was discovered it was too late to claw the money back, Taylor said.
“If you’ve authorised the payment, the money has gone and the fraudster has withdrawn the money at their end.”
COMMENTARY: Tonga is facing a financial crisis, with New Zealand and Australia propping up the kingdom’s budget.
The two donors are paying for more than 50 percent of the budget.
Tonga is still recovering from the effects of Covid-19 and the loss of income from tourism caused by Covid-19, as well as the aftermath of the Hunga Tonga Hunga-Ha’apai volcanic eruption and tsunami.
It has endured nine percent inflation, is paying more than NZ$40 million in fuel costs compared with last year and is about to start paying back China for its unsecured loan at a rate of NZ$28 million a year. The International Monetary Fund says Tonga’s overall risk of debt distress remains high.
Many Tongans are facing real economic hardship.
Despite this, Parliament decided to go ahead and give itself a pay rise using a controversial circular system that hid the identities of those who had voted for the backdated pay increase.
It was a slap in the face for voters and a sign that once again the Tongan government is completely oblivious as to how its actions appear to the people who elect them.
New Zealand pay cut
Instead of putting more money in their pockets, the Tongan government should have taken a leaf from New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern.
When New Zealand was forced into a lockdown to deal with the emergence of the Covid-19 virus in 2020, thousands of people lost their jobs or lost income. In response, Ardern formulated a common sense response.
In April of that year Ardern announced that she and other ministers would take a 20% pay cut lasting six months to show solidarity with those affected by the coronavirus outbreak.
She said it was important for the government’s highest paid politicians to show “leadership and solidarity” with workers on the frontline and those who had lost their livelihoods.
“If there was ever a time to close the gap between groups of people across New Zealand in different positions, it is now,” the Prime Minister said.
Ardern and the New Zealand government showed how a government should behave in a financial crisis by cutting their pay, not increasing it.
It is a pity Prime Minister Hu’akavameiliku did not follow their example.
Pastor ‘Aipolo
Our story last week about Pastor ‘Aipolo’s criticism of the MPs’ pay rise have generated overwhelmingly positive feedback from our readers.
Most people lauded Pastor ‘Aipolo, saying it was the responsibility of religious leaders to look after their sheep and to criticise the Parliament’s pay rise at a time when the cost of living and inflation was high.
They said this was a good application of what Jesus said in the Bible in the parable of the Good Samaritan.
Opposition to the pastor’s comments came mostly from people who opposed the Democrats. They claimed the pay rise was legal and therefore justified. However, the Democrats said common sense was more important than following the law as laws were made by people. They said Tongan laws were amended from time to time because some of those laws were unjust.
The family of Tu’imala Uinisē Moala who died in a tragic house fire in Tonga’s Vava’u island has launched an independent investigation after her death.
Tu’imala Uinsē Moala (Left) with her namesake Tonga’s well-known solo singer and composer Tu’imala Kaho. Photo/Supplied
The family believe Moala’s New Zealand citizenship should give New Zealand Police a chance to mediate with Tongan authorities in support of their inquiries to confirm the cause of her death.
The Tongan Police said an inquest determined that the 46-year-old woman died from smoke inhalation and severe burning in a house fire at Neiafu.
Police said Moala and her husband were in the third floor of the three-storey building before the husband escaped the inferno by jumping from the rooftop.
In a statement Police said: “At around midnight on Monday, 7 November, they went to bed on the third floor of the house only to be awakened by a loud cracking sound from downstairs. When they opened their bedroom door, the flames had already engulfed the building, leaving them no way out but to tear down another door and climb to the rooftop. From the rooftop, they tried and jumped to the deck on the second floor.”
“In trying to escape the extreme flames, the husband held his wife’s hand so that they could jump down to the ground, but she let go of his hand because she was too terrified to jump. When the husband reached the ground, he called out for help and a male neighbour rushed over with a ladder but unfortunately, it was too short to reach the second floor. Both the husband and the male neighbour urged her to jump, and they would catch her, but she refused as she was confused, panicked, and terrified, and in the end, the fire caught up with her.”
Moala’s family said that livestreamed videos taken at the scene and shared to Facebook on the day of Moala’s death hold some key information about what they thought would explain more about the cause of her death.
A young brother of Moala has confirmed on Facebook they were conducting their own private investigation and have contacted New Zealand police.
“On Tuesday 8th November 2022 my Wife Hainoame Fulivai and I launched an enquiry with the New Zealand Police regarding our options for the tragic death of our Sister Tu’imala Uinise Paluvava’u Pauline Fulivai, as she’s a NZ Citizen by birth,” the post read.
“The enquiry is now in the hands of a trusted NZ Senior Detective, who understands the complexities of Tonga’s systems and able to escalate the matter with the proper NZ Authorities in Tonga”.
It said the family have launched their own enquiries with the Tonga Police to acquire the information that prompted their official report and conclusions.
“We are continuing to follow this up and we won’t stop until we get to the bottom of this!!
Thank you to everyone that has shared information with us thus far, you are all greatly appreciated. Malo aupito!
“Our Sister deserves a thorough investigation and we are demanding nothing less than the whole Truth.
“Miss you Big Sis, wish I was there to run through the fire to save you!!”
A 7.9 earthquake hit Tonga on Friday, triggering a tsunami warning and an immediate evacuation order from the government.
Tonga Meteorological Services initially asked locals to flee to high ground following the earthquake which originated near Vava’u’s capital town Neiafu.
It later said the marine tsunami warning issued earlier for the entire kingdom has now been cancelled.
“Based on tide gauge observation in Tonga, a tsunami wave of 10 centimeters was recorded in Neiafu, Vava’u, 6 centimeters in Niuatoputapu and 5 centimeters recorded in Nuku’alofa tide gauge at 1 a.m. this morning,” the government declared in its latest statement.
Hundreds were evacuated from some coastal areas of Tongatapu. There were reports of traffic gridlock as people tried to reach higher ground.
Reports of the earthquake being strongly felt throughout the kingdom had been shared on Facebook.
The US Geological Survey said the quake was 24.8km deep, 211km from the capital Nuku’alofa and east of south-east of Neiafu.
It comes after geologists in Tonga said recently they were closely monitoring the Fonualei volcano for signs of a major eruption. The volcano is about 350km from Nuku’alofa and 78km from Neiafu
Today’s earthquake and tsunami warnings come 10 months after an atmospheric shockwave caused by the Hunga Tonga – Hunga Ha’apai volcanic eruption was felt as far away as the UK. The tidal wave caused devastation in Tonga and killed people as far away as South America.
The family of the woman who died in a house fire in Vava’u believed it was her who was screaming for help in a livestreamed video which was widely shared on Facebook this week.
Police said Tu’imala Uinisē Moala, 46, “died from smoke inhalation and very severe burning” after a house fire at Neiafu on Tuesday.
Her husband and neighbours tried to rescue Moala but did not reach her in time.
Police said the victim was with her husband in the three-storey building before realising the blaze had engulfed the house.
They said the husband managed to escape while his wife was trapped by the fire.
The Police statement came after several horrifying videos taken at the scene of the house fire emerged online to the horror of locals and online Tongan international community.
One video that was originally posted to Facebook after the fire shows a woman could be heard screaming for help as she shouted at what appears to be her husband.
Kaniva News chooses not to publish the details and the rest of what the woman was yelling out while struggling in the blaze since we could not be able to verify the authenticity of the video.
The family and kāinga of the victim took what they heard from the video seriously and demanded answers.
Limapō Hopoate, a cousin of the deceased said the videos tell a lot of stories about Moala’s cause of death.
“Since her death I was overwhelmed and find myself in a very stressful situation”, Hopoate, who is a first cousin of the victim’s mother, told Kaniva News.
“Things are still very raw and the family are dealing with their own emotion at this confusing times”.
She compared the family’s experience to a “tsunami” which struck before people attempted to escape and tried to protect each other.
“At the same time we are trying to piece together the many fragments of info to establish a clear picture of what had happened”, she said.
Moala’s body was laid to rest on Wednesday 9.
Police said they were aware of some misinformation being shared on Facebook.
The number of New Zealanders dying from Covid-19 is likely to increase in the future.
The Ministry of Health said the rate of infection and hospitalisation rate was rising.
In contrast, the global trend showed the number of new cases to October 30 falling by 17 percent.
New Zealand had experienced two months of declining case numbers during August and September, after a peak in July.
Health Ministry figures for the week ending October 30, showed a 25.4 percent increase in cases compared with the previous week.
Wastewater testing and reported case rates used to monitor Covid-19 showed rates of the disease had been substantially increasing since early October, the ministry’s report said.
Wastewater testing indicated that the number of Covid cases was likely up to 28 percent higher than what was being reported.
The number of deaths attributed to Covid-19 had continued to fall in recent weeks. However, the Ministry said hospitalisation and death rates lagged behind changes in infection rates, and it was probable they would rise.
Pacific community
Māori and Pacific reported rates were rising, but continue to be lower than those of Europeans.
The seven-day rolling average of reported case among Māori was 37.9 per 100,000 population on 30 October, while among Pacific the number was 33.0 per 100,000 population.
The Ministry said it was concerned that this may be caused by under-reporting.
The Covid-19 related death rate for Māori and Pacific people was higher than for Europeans or other ethnicities (1.9 times higher for Māori, and 2.4 times higher for Pacific peoples).
The future
Meanwhile, calls have been made for the government to establish a permanent group of experts to deal with a future pandemic.
Otago University academic Philip Hill wants a pandemic response unit and a closer eye on disease around the world. He said this would help identify pandemic threats quickly and give New Zealand more time to prepare.
His call has been echoed by other academic experts.
Professor Hill said it was debatable whether New Zealand could have stamped out Covid-19 without a lockdown in those early months of 2020.
He said that New Zealand should have been able to avoid a lockdown if the country was as ready as the government said it was.
“Pandemic preparedness, at least for a virus with similar properties, should be regarded as a failure if a country requires a lockdown in the first six to 12 months,” Professor Hill said.
In 2020 Professor Hill was appointed to a government Covid-19 surveillance and testing strategy group.
A Tongan pastor has been lauded as a true prophet after he strongly criticised the Parliamentarians and government Ministers’ pay rise, which has been backdated to 2018.
Dr Sitiveni ‘Aipolo of the Assembly of God church said Parliament made the pay rise while inflation was high and people were struggling to meet basic needs.
The pastor said religious leaders’ failure to speak up when government leaders had been accused of making wrong decisions meant they were supporting wrongdoings.
He said the kingdom’s financial difficulty was not about money, but leaders’ lack of responsibilities.
The government’s use of a circular to solicit MPs approval of the pay hike rather than a debate before a face-to-face vote in the House had been called into question.
Parliament said the salary rise was legal and was approved through a circular which was distributed among the MPs. It said the circular was a legal means of communication approved by the House.
People speak through elections
Dr ‘Aipolo’s criticisms were made during a political campaign last week in Tongatapu to support the newly elected PTOA MP for Tongatapu 7, Paula Piveni Piukala.
Hon. Piukala was campaigning after his former rival candidate and MP Sangastar Saulala was unseated following a Court of Appeal decision dismissing his bribery conviction appeal.
It was Piukala who brought the bribery charges against Saulala.
Dr ‘Aipolo said the young people’s dancing and singing during Piukala’s campaign spoke about something deep in their hearts which they could not express.
“I wish to connect what is hidden in your heart tonight to the purpose of why we are here”, Dr ‘Aipolo told the crowd and listeners in Tongan in the speech which was also livestreamed on Facebook.
Dr ‘Aipolo said the children of today would ask in the future what did their parents do for them at present.
Election of a neighbour
The pastor then recounted the parable in the Holy Bible about the Good Samaritan.
He said Jesus was asked to confirm what he meant by the word “neighbour”.
Dr ‘Aipolo said Jesus told of a man who was travelling from Jerusalem to Jericho and was attacked by robbers on the way. He was badly beaten and left for dead.
The first person to pass the injured man was a priest, who crossed the road and continued walking.
The second person to pass the injured man was a Levite, a priest’s assistant. He also crossed the road and continued walking without helping the man.
The third person to come by was a Samaritan, a person from Samaria. The Samaritans were hated by the Jews. When the Samaritan saw the man, he took pity on him. He bandaged him and cleaned his wounds. He then put him on the back of his donkey and took him to an innkeeper, who he paid to look after him.
The parable ends with Jesus giving a commandment to go out and do the same as the Samaritan had done.
Dr ‘Aipolo told the audience and online listeners “we are here tonight to choose a neighbour”, implying that that neighbour was Hon. Piukala.
Don’t believe in that lie
Dr ‘Aipolo said Tonga was in deep trouble and a disastrous situation (“tu’unga fakatu’utāmaki”).
He said the kingdom’s problem was not a lack of funding.
“Do not believe in that lie”, he said.
“I can tell you we have enough money because they (Parliament) can backdate their pay rise to 2018 while we are struggling financially”, Dr ‘Aipolo said.
He said the Parliamentarians could do whatever they wanted.
“Apart from having their other allowances such as those for being members of government boards, they travelled overseas which means they received travelling allowances while at the same time we are struggling”.
He said the problem to which Tonga was heading was deep “loloto”, for which he received a round of applause from the crowd.
The pastor revealed during his speech how some of his close family members had chastised him because of his outspoken support for those who criticised government leaders’ wrong decisions.
“I do not care, and I am doing what I believe is right for me to do”, he said.
He then slammed his religious colleagues and community leaders saying the “silence of good people in the face of evil is evil in itself”.
Dr ‘Aipolo’s criticisms have been welcomed by the Tongan online community and regarded him as a true prophet who stood by the grassroots level referring to what Jesus Christ said in the Holy Bible about being a true prophet.
It reads: “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will recognise them by their fruits”.
Critics believe most religious leaders and clerics’ strong involvement with the government’s controversial national fasting programme showed they had failed to independently speak out against the government when it made wrong decisions.
A Tongan family who have been unlawfully in New Zealand for about 20 years have escaped deportation.
Vaea Tangitau Veatupu arrived in New Zealand in November 2002.
His wife Seini Veatupu was already here before him since August 1997.
They have four children and the eldest held New Zealand citizenship while the couple and their three other children overstayed their visa.
The family attempted through various immigration consultancies to get the Immigration Minister approved their permanent resident visa application but to no avail.
They finally approached Koli Vanisi of Pacific Immigration Consultancy before the Immigration Minister decided to approve their applications.
Vaea said they were extremely relieved by the approval of their residence visas.
In approving their applications, the Minister wrote to Vanisi and said: “I have carefully considered your representations. I have decided to grant resident visa to Mr and Ms Veatupu and their children, Douglas, Margaret and Sharon under section 61 of the Immigration Act 2009, subject to them meeting health and character requirement for resident.
“Mr Veatupu should submit a residence application to Immigration New Zealand (INZ) within three months of the date of this letter. A copy of this letter must be included with the request Medical and police certificates must be provided”.
