AMI Insurance advises calls for money are a con

AMI Insurance advises calls for money are not from AMI

AMI Insurance is making public the details of scam calls being made to AMI and non-AMI customers claiming to be from AMI and asking for sums of $10,000 to $25,000 for investment purposes, says Chief Executive John Balmforth.

“These scam calls have nothing to do with AMI Insurance. We do not sell investment products. Anyone receiving such an unsolicited call claiming to be from AMI and trying to sell an investment should terminate the call and notify us”, he says.

Mr Balmforth says that customers are asked if they have money to invest (sums of $10,000 - $25,000 are demanded), and an interest rate of 13 per cent is offered. The caller generally offers to send a brochure, but no one called has so far received the promised material.

“They can sound very credible because they often check personal information although it is no more than you can get through the telephone book or the electoral roll. We have no evidence of privacy breaches in our organisation.

“To date we have 26 reported cases. These are reported cases only. It is likely there is a much larger number of unreported cases. We also cannot be sure whether or not some people have been taken in by the scam.

“The rate of scam calling seems to have increased sharply in the last week and this gives us great concern that a concerted attack on New Zealand consumers is underway. If possible, we want to nip it in the bud”, he says.

Police, Securities Commission and Ministry of Consumer Affairs have all been notified of the scam and provided with the details. The prospect of catching the offenders looks slim as the calls are sourced from outside New Zealand so we need to ensure the New Zealand public is protected.”

Mr Balmforth says AMI Insurance has decided to highlight the scam through the media to help the public protect themselves. If members of the public receive unsolicited or unexpected phone calls purporting to be from AMI they should contact AMI on 0800 100 200 to verify them.

“The Ministry of Consumer Affairs website includes advice on dealing with these kinds of calls including. a recommendation that if it sounds too good to be true it probably is.”

Maggie Edwards of Consumer NZ says that there are some usual warning signs to be wary of with such scams. These include if the rate of return seems too good to be true, the person marketing the scheme refuses to provide any useful documentation, or you are phoned up out of the blue by someone – usually calling from overseas.

If any of these points are spotted, she says, then you’re best to give the scheme a miss.

The Consumer NZ website includes further information on how to protect yourself.

Senior Constable Len Corner of the Christchurch Police dealing with the matter says that: “anyone receiving un-solicited calls should always exercise caution and common sense. People receiving these calls are advised to note all relevant details, refrain from providing personal information such as bank account numbers and family details, never meet payment demands, and report the matter directly to the relevant Company, in this case AMI. If there is a genuine reason to fear for your immediate safety then you should contact the Police.”

Scam details

Both AMI customers and non-customers (recipients) have received calls from callers claiming to be representing a company called “AMI”.

The callers offer investment services to the recipients and ask if the recipients have money to invest (sums of $10,000 - $25,000) and offer an interest rate of 13 per cent. They also offer to send brochures on services they offer, but no recipients appear to have received these.

26 reports of these calls have been logged by AMI - two or three new reports a day. We do not know how many calls are being made that are not being reported to AMI.

The callers refer to the company they are representing as “AMI” initially. When pressed by the recipient, the callers have said the company is “Australia Marketing Investments”, “AMI Australia” or “Australian or Australasian Mutual Investments”.

The callers are both male and female and have foreign accents – it has been reported they sound like they are from the Philippines, India or the USA, although one caller said they were from Australia.

The tone of the conversations have been reported as “creepy” and the callers as “pushy” and “determined” and “do not stop even when the recipient has said no”. Many of the recipients have had more than one call although they have been different callers.

In some cases the recipients are receiving calls every day for a week. In one case a business received five calls in one day. The recipients are feeling “harassed”.

AMI has not yet had any reports of recipients handing over money to the callers.


ENDS

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