80861 (2024). Arena Williams to the Minister of Commerce and Consumer Affairs

80861 (2024). Arena Williams to the Minister of Commerce and Consumer Affairs: What steps, if any, has the Minister taken as the "lead anti-scams Minister" since 18 November 2024?

Hon Andrew Bayly: On 18 November, I opened Fraud Awareness Week, speaking at the Telecommunications Fraud Seminar that brings together a range of government, industry and non-governmental organisations to learn more about fraud and scams. On 2 December, I issued open letters to digital platforms and telecommunications sectors, which you can read here: • Open letter to telecommunications companies: https://www.mbie.govt.nz/dmsdocument/29910-encouraging-action-against-online-financial-scams-an-open-letter-to-the-new-zealand-telecommunications-sector-pdf • Open letter to digital platforms: https://www.mbie.govt.nz/dmsdocument/29911-encouraging-action-against-online-financial-scams-an-open-letter-to-digital-platforms-pdf On 6 December, I hosted a government-industry roundtable event in Auckland to discuss issues relating to online financial scams, and potential solutions. I also attended the launch of Confirmation of Payee, an account name matching service rolled out by the banking sector at my request. On 15-17 December, I hosted the Honourable Stephen Jones in Wellington and attended a number of meetings with him relating to preventing online financial scams. These meetings enabled Trans-Tasman sharing of information about best practice for scam prevention. As lead Minister, I regularly meet with a range of stakeholders on issues relating to online financial scams. I refer the member to my Ministerial diary, proactively released on the Beehive website.