Whangārei man Borja Ares lost hundreds of thousands of dollars in an online investment scam after being taken in by a fake website.
After selling his house last month, Ares had wanted to invest.
The scammers claimed to be from Citibank and over the 10 days Ares was in contact with them, his suspicions were never aroused.
Ultimately, he lost $330k — his family's entire life savings — and he's losing hope of recovering the cash as well.
"I'm very close to being middle age, I have two little children, and now we have nothing," he told 1News.
"I haven't slept in weeks. Pretty much every night I have a nightmare.
"They will confuse you, they will manipulate you... They will gaslight you in many, many ways."
It comes as new figures show that thousands of Kiwis are being caught out.
And 16 Kiwis lost over $100,000 to cybercrime in the first quarter of this year, national cyber security agency CERT NZ said.
Director Rob Pope told 1News: "New Zealand's a relatively rich country, and in digital terms, it's quite naive and trusting."
Ares said officials are investigating his case.
A Givealittle page has been set up for Ares and his family.
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