Fraud losses in New Zealand over the past year amount to approximately $160 million, with crypto scams targeting Pacific communities.

Deep Tide TechFlow News, June 14th, according to New Zealand B2B News, reported that New Zealand's economic losses caused by fraud crimes over the past year amount to approximately $160 million. Among them, losses from acquaintance scams (Romance and Trust Scams) implemented through establishing "relationships and trust" totaled about $19 million.

The report states that local Pacific communities are gradually becoming key targets for cryptocurrency scam activities. Due to the strong community cohesion within this group and extensive social networks such as family and church connections, scammers often exploit internal trust mechanisms to spread false investment projects, thereby expanding the scope of the scams.

The report points out that Pacific communities have significant economic influence in New Zealand. Historical data shows that this group has contributed about $4.8 billion to the country's gross domestic product (GDP), and related church organizations manage assets exceeding $300 million. These factors make them a primary focus for scam gangs.

In February this year, the New Zealand Financial Markets Authority (FMA), in collaboration with several international regulatory agencies, issued a risk warning regarding the unregistered crypto investment project BG Wealth Sharing, alerting the public to be cautious of related scam activities.

As crypto asset investments become more widespread, regulatory agencies in multiple countries continue to strengthen efforts against fraudulent investment platforms and cross-border scam networks, and remind investors to verify platform credentials and regulatory information when participating in high-yield projects.