There have been a few incidents of scammers on social media pretending to be someone of the community and scamming people for money.
According to the Niue Police Department, “Scammers have notified members of the public that Niue Police and Niue Customs have received a post from a retirement plan in New Hampshire in the United States. People are requested to pay money to have the package cleared from Customs and Police holds.”
Chief of Police Tim Wilson told Midday News that approximately $30,000 dollars was scammed from the victim of this incident which happened online.
Niue Police are advising members of the public that “if you are notified that you have a package awaiting clearance at Customs Niue, you should contact Customs directly to confirm and make any payments directly to them, not to a third party or people online.”
BCN News is aware that there have also been scammers on Facebook and Instagram pretending to be local members in the community. They have been posing as someone else, using the same profile pictures and usernames and befriending the local community.
It is understood that the cybersecurity law has not been reviewed for the past ten years. But it is clear that cybercrime is becoming an increasing issue with members of the community being scammed of their money online.
Niue Police are advising members of the public that if you have been contacted regarding a similar scamming incident, please contact them at phone number 4333.
Beware of scammers and immediately block and report them before it is too late.