Scams have been around long before the internet, but email, online banking, and dating sites have certainly made it easier for scammers to reach a lot of people.
We recently helped an overseas client who had been the victim of quite an elaborate targeted scam. The scammer had promised to supply some goods in exchange for a few thousand dollars. Our client thought she had done her due diligence, she had even met with the scammer. The scammer was from NZ but was traveling through our client’s country.
As soon as our client made payment, the scammer vanished. Luckily our client, who was somewhat of a sleuth, had actually gathered a lot of information on the scammer, however still without knowing their true identity. She went to the police but it wasn’t a priority for them, so she came to us.
We didn’t have much solid information to go on, just a lot of seemingly unrelated background information our client had gathered during her meeting with them. Hobbies, interests, possible area of NZ they were from. Of course the name they gave was false, so that wasn’t much help.
With all those different threads of information, we found the scammer in two days.
Then we made our approach to them. The results was a full recovery of the money, and a very happy client. For her, it wasn’t just about the money, it was the principal. She couldn’t believe that she had been taken advantage of.
If you’ve been scammed and don’t feel like the police are getting anywhere, get in touch. If the scammer is based in New Zealand, chances are we’ll find them.
Can we help you? If you need an Auckland private investigator contact us on 09 391 1100 or [email protected] for a chat.
iSolve – For when you need to know.
