Last year’s Scamscape highlighted that New Zealanders aren’t exactly scam-savvy and that raising awareness is by far the best, and sometimes the only, defence against scams.

To mark the opening of Fraud Awareness Week 2013 on 17 June in Wellington, the Ministry for Business Innovation and Employment and Trade Me are hosting “Scamscape: a focus on fraud victims” It will be launched by the Minister of Consumer Affairs, Hon. Craig Foss.

Scamscape 2013 will delve into the effect online fraud has on victims, along with ways that knowledge can be used to prevent people getting caught by scams.

Other speakers include:      

• Detective Senior Sergeant Steve Honiss; Officer in Charge of the National Cyber Crime Centre
• Karen Grau; Senior Associate at Crown Prosecutors, Luke Cunningham & Clere
• Trade Me’s very own Samantha Holloway, who will speak about fraud investigations from the Trade Me perspective
• Leading criminologist Dr Cassandra Cross will discuss her research on scam victims and associated recommendations with respect to victim support

This will be a good opportunity to understand fraud and the impact it has on victims, from the various perspectives of different industry stakeholders.

This event is invite only, however if you feel you or your organisation would benefit from attending, drop us a line at scamscape@trademe.co.nz and we’ll see what we can do – no promises however as seating is very limited. 

Yes, I admit it - like most of my fellow Trade Me crew, I have a soft spot for Star Wars (that's my fan site), the greatest space opera that there ever was.

Given Star Wars was set a long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away away, I presume Chewie, Luke Skywalker and Han Solo had never heard of the internet, let alone tried to send their ‘galactic credit standards’ via Western Union.

But just in case Luke and his rebel buddies did somehow find themselves needing to do some wheeling and dealing on Trade Me, here’s some great tips they’d need to ensure their transactions go smoothly and safely:

• If Luke is looking to buy a podracer and leaves his contact details in the Q & A of the listing, he’s open to getting texts from scoundrels. He should watch out for the so called text scammers like Joshua Calthorpe or Elmira Rafiee who might pretend to have a really, really cheap podracer for sale. Newsflash Luke - the podracer doesn’t exist and your credits will disappear faster than a Wookiee can rip apart a protocol droid.

• Han Solo’s Trade Me username should not be the same as the first part of his email address. For example, if his email is hansolo1977@randommail.com, his user name should not be hansolo1977 as this increases the odds of receiving a phishing email.

• If Han does receive an email that purports to be from Trade Me suggesting he enters his credit card or Trade Me password details, he should check again. This is a phishing attempt to compromise his accounts. Remember, Trade Me will never ever ask Han (or you) for his password.

• If Princess Leia is going to buy a fleet of X-Wing fighters to help battle the Empire she might wish to consider using Trade Me’s Pay Now service. It has two great benefits:

1. She will have the assurance that her payment will be investigated if there’s a problem and potentially refunded if it can be proven that the goods were not sent or delivered.
2. Any high risk transactions are investigated to ensure that her card is being used by herself and hasn’t simply been found in the Mos Eisely space port or nicked by a rogue R2 unit.

• All trades on the site should be done within New Zealand or Australian boundaries as only people in those countries can be members. If Yoda bought a car from ‘bobbafett1138’ who says the car is on Alderaan and he’ll need to send money via Western Union before shipping it, Yoda should slink back to the Dagobah system as there’s no way he’ll ever see the car or his money again. 

• If Lando Calrissian is looking to invest in some mining equipment he should check who he’s buying from. Sellers with good feedback are generally responsible traders. If the seller is not authenticated or has no feedback (or plenty of neutral or negative feedback), Lando may want to reconsider bidding on or buying the item. If it’s a high value transaction, Lando could consider using our Safe Trader service.

• The 'little unit' that could, R2-D2 should be conscious of the need to protect his password, after all, he should know as he’s hacked a few networks in his day. R2’s Trade Me password should be different to that of his email account and his internet banking. He’s got to keep everything separate so if one account is compromised he won’t lose them all. He should also never share his password.

Remember, the evil Empire is still out there and when it’s not hunting down escaped Jedi Knights, it’s only too keen to con Trade Me members of their hard earned credits. By using these tips we hope you’ll still have enough cash to see Episode VII in 3D... I’ll see you at the Embassy.

From time to time Trade Me is approached by the Insolvency and Trustee Service from the Ministry for Business Innovation and Employment (MBIE) raising concerns that a member is selling goods whilst they are currently bankrupt.

Generally speaking persons who are made bankrupt and are placed under the ‘management’ of the ‘Official Assignee’ (a part of the Service)  and such persons are not permitted to “stop, attempt to stop, or hamper the Official Assignee dealing with any property or assets.”

So if a bankrupt person was to have ‘hidden’ away an asset such as a motorbike or boat they would be committing an offence as the at the date of bankruptcy, all assets and property owned by a bankrupt person automatically vest in the Official Assignee and become the Official Assignee’s assets and property.

Trying to sell that asset is thus a further offence under the Insolvency Act and that’s where Trade Me comes in.

If they have identified a listing that features property that is subject to the bankruptcy Trade Me is obliged to remove it from the site as the person who has listed it has no right to sell it as that right transfers to the Official Assignee as part of the bankruptcy process.

The Official Assignee is also concerned with persons who attempt to engage in commercial activity without permission.

If either of these situations occur on Trade Me, we’ll usually remove the listings of concern and press a magic button that prevents the member from making new listings.

This is designed to protect other Trade Me members as much as anything – people go bankrupt for many reasons however we don’t really consider those who are ignoring their obligations to the OA as safe to trade with. There would of course likley be issues with the unravelling of ownership should a trade occur. 

If you become aware of a bankrupt who is selling goods on the site, we suggest your first port of call should be the Insolvency and Trust Service.  

More reading on insolvency:

How it works – Consumer New Zealand

No Asset Procedure – Community Law

We connect, interact and share with people across the planet with the click of a button. Devices small enough to carry in our back pocket allow access to the internet, it is part of our everyday life and it’s awesome.

Netsafe, Norton & Trade Me want to help keep it that way.  We’re delighted to join forces and bring the Internet Safety Clinic to Wellington. 

We’re keen to offer our technical services to check your devices and ensure they’re up to date and running safe. It’s not just about updating your desktop, laptop or mobile device; we’ll be offering up tips through our collective experience to keep your online experience a great one.

If you’re in Wellington and in need of a health check for your device, or you know someone that is why don’t you come along!

When:          Sunday, 26 May 2013

Time:            Between 9 am and 12 pm

Where:         Mac's Function Centre, Wellington Waterfront

      2 Taranaki Street,

     Wellington Central,

     Wellington

Bring yourself and or one of the following: PC, Laptop, Tablet or Smartphone

Walk on in for a great personal introduction to Cyber Security Awareness week!