More than 5000 'mule' bank accounts identified in NZ

Author: Jenée Tibshraeny,
Publish Date: Mon, 15 Jun 2026, 3:20pm

New Zealand Banking Association chief executive Roger Beaumont says scammers could be sitting in Palmerston North or Eastern Europe. Photo / Dean Purcell

More than 5000 New Zealand bank accounts have been used by scammers to transfer stolen funds over the past nine months.

These “mule” accounts have been flagged by a new information sharing platform banks are using to detect scams: the Fraud Intelligence Exchange.

According to the New Zealand Banking Association, the accounts are often used to send money overseas where it’s almost impossible to get it back.

Association chief executive Roger Beaumont didn’t know what portion of mule account holders knew their accounts were being used for criminal activity, versus those who turned a blind eye or were tricked into having their accounts used.

Beaumont said former international students, who no longer needed their New Zealand bank accounts, were among those targeted by scammers.

“They will basically offer them a couple of hundred bucks for their bank account and have all that access and use of that account facility,” Beaumont said.

He said banks dealt with account holders on a case-by-case basis. They could have the funds frozen and/or their bank accounts closed.

He didn’t know how many individuals were tied to the 5000 mule accounts identified by the Fraud Intelligence Exchange, or what portion of scammers who recruited account holders were local versus foreign.

“Some of these people will be innocent-looking geeks in their bedrooms. Some will be in Palmerston North and some will be in Eastern Europe.”

Beaumont said it was hard to know how much people were losing to scammers every year.

“Anything between $200 million and $2 billion – it’s a massive variability and the reason for this is a lot of this activity is unreported because people are a bit embarrassed when they do get scammed, and so they tend to not report it and just beat themselves up for being tricked.

“In actual fact, the best thing to do if you are scammed is to talk immediately to your bank and try and put in place whatever processes are open to recover those funds.”

Beaumont believed there was more public awareness around scams, but noted the tactics used were ever-changing.

“I don’t think there have been a huge number of prosecutions. It’s complex and new territory to bring charges in. But there’s ongoing work and I think the police have awareness of wanting to do more in this space,” he said.

He once again urged the global tech giants to do more to prevent scams.

As for what the banks are doing, they have their confirmation of payee service operational for customers to check the name of the person they are paying matches their account number.

They also have a 24/7 reporting channel open for those who believe they’ve been scammed.

Banks issue pre-transaction warnings to customers for certain payments, can block or delay high-risk transactions, and are sharing scammer account information with each other to help prevent criminal activity, and freeze funds where appropriate.

Jenée Tibshraeny is the Herald’s Wellington business editor, based in the parliamentary press gallery. She specialises in government and Reserve Bank policymaking, economics and banking.