real estate agent

PHOTO: SUPPLIED A sim hijacking scam saw a fraudster make off with nearly $500,000.

A New Zealand-born Chinese man swindled at least $500,000 from victims through a sophisticated mobile phone “sim hijacking” scam before fleeing the country.

The fraud involved impersonating victims and applying for new sim cards through their telco, before accessing bank accounts and withdrawing huge sums of cash in the weeks before Christmas last year.

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His victims included a woman in Mangawhai Heads who lost more than $200,000, a retired man in Remuera who lost $180,000 and an Otago-based real estate agent who lost $120,000.

That real estate agent told Stuff he began experiencing network issues with his phone while in a remote part of the province, a week before Christmas.

READ MORE VIA STUFF

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