Police are reminding people to be wary of overseas money scams after a Dunedin woman lost about $2000 through a social media connection.
The woman befriended an American man on social networking site Facebook, and paid $US2000 to a supposed Malaysian courier company to release a package said to be sent by the man.
The man told the woman the package contained $US300,000.
The victim realised something was amiss when she received another email, supposedly from the courier company, saying it needed more money to release the parcel.
She then reported the incident to Dunedin Police.
Acting sergeant Rene Aarsen said people needed to be vigilant when dealing with overseas money transactions.
"As soon as they start getting into financial transactions, they just need to step back and seek advice from their bank," he said.
Acting Sgt Aarsen said if something seemed too good to be true, it probably was.
He commended the woman for reporting the incident.
