Southern police are urging the public to stay vigilant to the ever present threat of online and phone scams, with six Southlanders falling victim to fraud-related scams in March alone.

The variety of online scams plaguing New Zealanders daily is mindboggling, and Southlanders are no less vulnerable to them than the rest of the country.

Southern District Police Investigation Support Unit supervisor Rick Bourne said scams could range from fake social media profiles selling goods that didn't exist, scams requiring people to purchase iTunes cards, fraudsters using New Zealand phone numbers to trick victims, and even using fake identification to claim credit cards in someone else's name. 

While anybody could fall victim to the increasingly sophisticated scams, Mr Bourne said the young and elderly were particularly vulnerable. Overall, the trend seemed to be on the rise. 

"Interestingly enough, yesterday I did a credit check on myself," Mr Bourne said.

"In your credit check, you can see who's actually interested in your financials. I identified a company called Latitude Financial Services. They supply credit cards to people. I found that they did an inquiry in 2016 into me, and I've never had a credit card before. 

"So somebody was trying to get one in my name."

The one key difference between urban centres and less populated areas like Southland was that, due to the generally lower crime rate, people here were more likely to report the scam, whereas North Islanders might not see it as worth it to report $30 lost. 

Southern police are currently looking into two reports where scammers used New Zealand numbers to trick victims into their scam. In one case, a number advertised on a caravan sale site looked like it was a New Zealand number since it started with 03. 

Mr Bourne said the victim almost parted with $13,500.

"We see lots and lots of Facebook frauds, people trying to sell stuff. 

"If we can educate people to get [a seller's] phone number, to ring them, talk to the person, and then go to video call, take a screenshot of the person you're talking to, that is going to deter some offenders."

Other cases of fraud have the scammer get in touch with the target first. 

Retired Gore resident Doug MacKinnon, 62, got a Facebook message a couple of months ago telling him he had won more than $8 million. 

At first he said he was thrilled, but the scammer started asking that he purchase iTunes cards. It was at that point that a friend tipped him off that it looked like a scam, and that's when he went to the police. He and his wife lost $300 to $400, which he said he could have used to buy a bus trip to visit his mum near Christchurch.

He recommended people to be aware and question the sources they're interacting with. 

A retired Te Anau resident, who asked to remain anonymous, got a call from someone in March who said they were from Spark. Not only did the scammer ask to see if the Fiordlander wanted to help pay money to a sick man in Panama, the caller warned against calling the police out of fear they could lose their identity.

The Te Anau resident went to the bank to transfer money and only then did the bank teller begin to suspect it was a scam. The Te Anau resident lost a couple of hundred dollars and was left reluctant to pick up the phone. The resident recommended being careful with taking phone calls from unknown sources.

Mr Bourne said the impact of these scams wasn't just about losing money, but the mental impact as well. For that reason police were eager get people educated as a first line of defence.

"It doesn't matter if it's $40, $100, or $10,000. It hurts and you've been conned."

Tips for staying safe

1. Check your credit rating. Don't wait until you need to apply for a loan or mortgage to find out that you have outstanding debts that you didn't incur.

2. Don't trust an email or phone call on face value. "No business sends you an email asking you for something," Mr Bourne said. "If a business wants to talk to you, they'll write to you." Mr Bourne said to research the company you want to talk to and find the correct contact details. "Never accept a phone call from somebody who wants access to your account, wants access to your computer or wants to know who your friends are."

3. Learn basic online tools to create a digital trail and proactively check who's really sent that email or Facebook message. Hover your cursor over the email sender name to see how legitimate an email address is. Search on Google or YouTube how to trace an IP address to identify the general location of a source, and learn to take screenshots of online conversations with sellers to document conversations. 

4. Make your passwords safe. Don't use names, sequences, or dates of birth. Instead, Mr Bourne suggests using things you can remember, like picking a couple of letters from your favourite song. Throw in some different characters or numbers as well. 

5. Take advantage of two-factor authentication. In addition to a username and password, often email or bank accounts will offer an extra layer of security like texting you a code to your cellphone you have to enter to access your account. 

6. Check your privacy settings on social media. Mr Bourne also recommends only adding friends on sites like Facebook, not "friends of friends". Don't be afraid to block someone acting suspiciously. 

7. Use your best judgment. If an online re-sale looks too good to be true, it probably is. "Why would somebody sell a $1300 iPhone for $800 when it's new?"

8. Report scams to police when they do happen. Mr Bourne advised ringing the new 105 number. "We need the help of the community, we can't do it all on our own. [...] Our aim is to make New Zealand the safest country in the world. Be safe and feel safe, but we want people to feel safe in their own homes, not be victims of fraudsters."