New Zealand's Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment has launched the New Zealand Anti-Scam Alliance, a cross-sector initiative intended to strengthen prevention of, and response to, online financial scams by improving coordination across government agencies, banks, telecommunications providers, digital platforms, and consumer groups. The Alliance is intended to reduce consumer harm by improving how scam-related intelligence is shared and acted on across sectors. MBIE cited scams as a growing threat, with more than 60% of New Zealanders encountering online financial scams monthly and an estimated economic impact of nearly NZD 200 million annually, with some estimates significantly higher. The programme includes developing a national anti-scam strategy, updating industry codes of practice, raising public awareness, and providing tools to help businesses and consumers prevent and respond to scams, building on measures such as the banking sector’s rollout of Confirmation of Payee account-name matching software.

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