Inland Revenue (IR) has begun issuing income tax assessments to New Zealanders, kicking off the annual cycle of tax refunds and chasing up tax owned. With cybercriminals known to exploit this period, Norton experts are warning that Kiwis will soon be targeted with a range of tax scams, from phishing emails to phone impersonations and fake refund promises.

“New Zealand is one of the most heavily impacted countries by a new wave of AI-driven, hyper-personalised cyber threats. That makes tax time an especially risky period,” says Mark Gorrie, Managing Director Norton APAC. “Our latest Q1 2025 Threat Report points out that breached data and AI tools are giving cybercriminals just enough personal information and design sophistication to easily manipulate people.”

Key tips for protecting yourself:

• IR never includes refund amounts or login links in emails or texts
• Watch for suspicious domains (e.g. ird.com.nz, ird.qovt.nz); the real one is ird.govt.nz
• Be wary of terms like “fiscal activity”, “excess payment” or “Department of Taxes”
• Never give out personal info over the phone unless you’ve verified the caller – hang up and call IR back using their official number
• Use strong passwords, enable two-factor authentication, and secure personal documents
• Limit what you share online. Scammers can use social media info to guess security questions or build convincing fake messages.
• Consider enrolling in an identity protection service. These services can monitor your financial and personal data, alert you to unusual activity, and help you recover more quickly if your identity is compromised.

Common types of tax scams:

• Phishing emails impersonating IR, often claiming issues with your refund or tax return
• Fake IR calls demanding immediate payment for tax debts that don’t exist
• Identity theft, with scammers using your IR number to lodge fraudulent returns
• Social media scams offering fake tax help or posing as IR reps
• Emails with fake tax documents that install malware when opened
• Bogus refund offers used to harvest personal or banking info
• Scam charities asking for “deductible” donations
• Tax payment scams involving prepaid gift cards or unusual repayment methods

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