Kiwis report 1200% increase in SMS scams in 2025

Reports of text messaging scams in New Zealand increased by more than 1200% last year after reporting was made easier.

There were more than 1.39 million reports of SMS scams in 2025, up from 103,000 in 2024, according to the Department of Internal Affairs’ (DIA) recently published Digital Messaging Transparency Report.

The increase was driven by the introduction of One-Click Reporting on Apple devices at the end of 2024, allowing users to report suspicious messages directly from their phones with a single tap.

“The significant increase in reports demonstrates how making reporting easier can improve our visibility of scam activity targeting New Zealanders,” DIA’s general manager digital safety and identity investigations Jared Mullen said.

Following the success of the One-Click Reporting initiative, the DIA is now extending the same capability to Android users.

The report also said the rates at which email scams are reported rose 8% to almost 58,000 last year.

“Criminals are increasingly using convincing messages, trusted brands and emerging technologies to make scams appear legitimate. This makes it more important than ever for New Zealanders to remain vigilant and report suspicious messages,” Mullen said.

“Information provided by the public is critical in helping us identify scamming trends and disrupt them.”

In July 2025, the Government announced the New Zealand Anti-Scam Alliance, bringing together government agencies and industry partners to strengthen New Zealand’s response to scams.

As part of this work, the DIA supported a cross-sector pilot involving telecommunications providers, banks, digital platforms and government agencies to improve intelligence sharing and disruption efforts.

Last year, the Digital Messaging Team collaborated with industry partners to disrupt scam campaigns, including the referral of more than 760,000 web links and phone numbers for blocking.