Nick Mowbray. Photo / Supplied
Billionaire toy mogul Nick Mowbray has joined a list of Kiwi A-listers who have been impersonated online in an attempt to scam followers.
Fraudsters created a fake Instagram account under the Zuru Toys and Zuru Edge dynamo’s name. Photos from his real account were taken so followers assumed it was the real deal.
Messages were then sent from the account asking followers to click on a link.
It’s not the first time this has happened to Mowbray.
“I seem to keep being targeted, which is frustrating,” he tells Spy.
“Each time they do it to me – it’s quite sophisticated in matching the followers.”
One follower told Spy the imposter account messaged her just as she was going to bed.
“I wondered why a billionaire I didn’t know was messaging me at 10pm,” she said.
“I’ve never spoken to him before so alarm bells were ringing straight away. It started off friendly with his saying it was ‘pleasant having you here’.
“Then he asked me how my trading was going and it confirmed my suspicion. I played along just to see what it would ask me to do and it eventually sent a link to click on which of course I didn’t do.”
Playing along with the scammer is not wise, but the instinct not to click the link is exactly what CERT NZ director Rob Pope says should kick in.
Mowbray posted an Instagram story on his real acocunt telling his followers about the duplicate account and saying not to click on the link – which Pope says everyone should do if…
