New Zealand’s Department of Internal Affairs (DIA) received 1,390,957 reports of SMS scams in 2025, up 1,240% from 103,834 in 2024. DIA attributes the increase to one-click reporting on supported Apple devices.

Introduced in December 2024, the feature lets users select “Report Junk” to automatically forward suspicious messages to the 7726 reporting service, rather than forwarding them manually. It was developed through collaboration between Apple, New Zealand telcos, and messaging platform Modica.

The change is illustrated in the chart below from the Commsrisk Global Fraud Dashboard.

SMS Reports to 7726 in New Zealand

Announcing the figures on 16 September 2026, Jared Mullen, DIA’s General Manager, Digital Safety and Identity Investigations, said:

The significant increase in reports demonstrates how making reporting easier can improve our visibility of scam activity targeting New Zealanders.

In its September announcement, DIA said it was extending one-click reporting to Android users.

You can explore this series and other data on scam reporting and prevention in the Commsrisk Global Fraud Dashboard. Further details are available in DIA’s announcement and its 2024/25 annual report.

Cease to resist, giving my goodbye
Drive my car into the ocean
You’ll think I’m dead, but I sail away
On a wave of mutilation

This is the final Commsrisk article. The website will continue to host the Commsrisk Global Fraud Dashboard under the stewardship of James Greenley, the software engineer who created it, for as long as he can find financial backers to support that work. Presenting reams of objective data compiled from varied international sources is the best way to build on the platform constructed during the first two decades of this website. Facts and figures need to rule; words are too messy and too easily twisted. My regular narratives about the communications sector end now, not with regret, but with pleasure. I am glad to be released to live a different life to the one that has consumed so much of me.