Reports of text message scams increase by over 1,000%
16 September 2026
The Department of Internal Affairs (DIA) has published its 2025 Digital Messaging Transparency Report, revealing a 1,240% increase in reports of SMS message scams.
The report shows that DIA received more than 1.39 million reports of SMS scams in 2025, following the introduction of One-Click Reporting on Apple devices, compared with just over 103,000 reports in 2024.
“The significant increase in reports demonstrates how making reporting easier can improve our visibility of scam activity targeting New Zealanders,” says Jared Mullen, General Manager, Digital Safety and Identity Investigations.
“The increase was driven by the introduction of One-Click Reporting on supported Apple devices at the end of 2024, which allows users to report suspicious messages directly from their phones with a single tap.”
Following the success of the One-Click Reporting initiative, the Department is now extending the same capability to Android users.
The report also shows the rates at which email scams are reported. In 2025, we received almost 58,000 reports of email scams, an increase of 8% compared with the previous year.
Mr Mullen says scammers are continuing to impersonate trusted organisations and brands to trick New Zealanders into sharing personal information or making payments.
“Criminals are increasingly using convincing messages, trusted brands and emerging technologies to make scams appear legitimate. This makes it more important than ever for New Zealanders to remain vigilant and report suspicious messages.”
“Information provided by the public is critical in helping us identify scamming trends and disrupt them,” he says.
The report highlights the importance of collaboration across government and industry to combat increasingly sophisticated scam and spam activity.
In July 2025, the Government announced the New Zealand Anti-Scam Alliance, bringing together government agencies and industry partners to strengthen New Zealand’s response to scams. As part of this work, DIA supported a cross-sector pilot involving telecommunications providers, banks, digital platforms and government agencies to improve intelligence sharing and disruption efforts.
Throughout 2025, the Digital Messaging Team collaborated with industry partners to disrupt scam campaigns, including the referral of more than 760,000 web links and phone numbers for blocking.
Head to dia.govt.nz/Spam-Transparency-reports to read the report in full.
To report spam to DIA, you can use the “Report Junk” feature on supported mobile devices, forward text messages for free to 7726, or visit https://www.reportspam.co.nz/ to report emails.
-ENDS-
Media contact:
Media Desk
Department of Internal Affairs | Te Tari Taiwhenua
Mobile: +64 27 535 8639
Email: media@dia.govt.nz
