Inland Revenue is warning social media users to be wary after a recent scam which used a suspected AI generated image of its top boss.
The scam, which had a fake image of Inland Revenue commissioner and chief executive officer Peter Mersi, was set up as an advertisement inviting people to a closed live webinar on upcoming cryptocurrency tax changes.
Inland Revenue service owner – cyber security Stephen Lynch said the image used is not Peter Mersi, and “incorrect” versions of the Inland Revenue logo had also been used in the image.
“We believe whoever is behind the campaign is using false, probably AI generated, images and messaging to trick people into giving out personal information which is then used to access online accounts or steal someone's identity.”
“Inland Revenue investigates and searches for scams so we can pass the details on to the social media platforms they appear on to have the ads taken down.”
After it notified Meta, the series of ads claiming to be from Inland Revenue were taken down, but reappeared, “slightly altered, the next day”.
“Unfortunately, the use of images and artificially generated likenesses is on the increase with investment scams on social media platforms and websites being a major contributor to New Zealanders losing $265 million dollars to fraud last year.”
Lynch said people should ignore or delete any ads similar to the one used.
“To protect yourself use Ad-blockers when browsing the web, change social media settings to restrict or limit ads, and change settings to block calls and texts from unknown numbers.”
He said from past experience, scammers had been aware of important tax periods, and increased their attempts during these times to “rip off Kiwis”.
“For example, at the end of the tax year or when we start to send out assessments mid-year. We’re asking taxpayers to be extra vigilant and watch out for scammers.”
In the past, 1News has reported on posts which used the likeness of well-known Kiwis to promote scams. This has included Seven Sharp presenter Hillary Barry, reporter Daniel Faitaua and former Breakfast host Jenny-May Clarkson.
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