Investment scam linked to remote access
Published Sources: NCSC NZ
What is affected, what to do
Investment scam linked to remote access An investment scam is circulating that allows scammers to gain access to people’s phones and has prompted an investment scam warning by the Financial Markets Authority. What's happening New Zealanders are being encouraged by scammers to: turn off the settings on their phones that prevent unsupported apps and software being installed, and then download a malicious app.
The available sources name no fixed version. Check the vendor guidance in the references below.
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Metrics
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Priority
No value is available for this vulnerability.
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CVSS v3
No value is available for this vulnerability.
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EPSS score
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- Severity
- Not rated
Priority (0–325)
The priority score is a consolidated metric that condenses several individual signals into a single, action-guiding ranking: technical severity (CVSS), exploitation likelihood (EPSS), known-exploited status (KEV) and the context of the affected asset. The aim is to answer the only truly important question in vulnerability management: what first?
Read in glossary- 10.27 Methodology
Exploit maturity
An exploit is code or a technique that specifically uses a concrete vulnerability to force unintended behaviour — such as executing code or escalating privileges. It is the tool that turns a theoretical flaw into a practical attack.
Read in glossary- no public PoC known
KEV status
The KEV catalogue is a list maintained by the US authority CISA of vulnerabilities for which active exploitation in the wild has been confirmed. It answers not the question „how severe?“ but „is it already being attacked?“ — thereby sharply prioritising patching.
Read in glossary- —
- Published
Classification under NIS2 and CRA
Rule-based classification from exploitation status and severity. It does not replace a case-by-case assessment.
NIS2
NIS2 is EU Directive (EU) 2022/2555 to raise the level of cybersecurity across the Union. It substantially broadens obligations compared with the first NIS directive: more sectors, mandatory risk management, staged reporting duties and personal accountability of senior management.
Read in glossary- Handle the vulnerability in regular vulnerability handling under Art. 21(2)(e) NIS2.
CRA
The CRA is EU Regulation (EU) 2024/2847 setting horizontal cybersecurity requirements for „products with digital elements“ — from industrial controllers and software to connected consumer devices. For the first time manufacturers must ensure security across the entire product lifecycle, handle vulnerabilities and provide security updates.
Read in glossary- From 11.12.2027, Annex I Part II CRA requires manufacturers of affected products with digital elements to handle vulnerabilities without delay and provide security updates.
ISO/IEC 27001
ISO/IEC 27001 is the internationally leading standard for an information security management system (ISMS). It describes a risk-based, process-oriented framework to systematically plan, implement, review and improve information security.
Read in glossary- Control A.8.8, management of technical vulnerabilities: assess relevance to your systems, plan remediation and keep evidence.
Description
Investment scam linked to remote access An investment scam is circulating that allows scammers to gain access to people’s phones and has prompted an investment scam warning by the Financial Markets Authority. What's happening New Zealanders are being encouraged by scammers to: turn off the settings on their phones that prevent unsupported apps and software being installed, and then download a malicious app. Doing this then gives the scammer full access to the target’s phone, including the ability to: control their camera, send messages and record conversations, install further applications, steal personal and banking information, and view their images. What to look for How to tell if you're at risk Scammers are setting up a series of WhatsApp groups that appear popular but are mostly filled with bots. They are sending bulk messages inviting people to join the WhatsApp groups to share information about investment opportunities. In these messages, the scammers often falsely claim to be an employee of: a New Zealand bank, an investment firm, or other financial service provider. The scammers are encouraging people to invite new recruits (often friends or family) to receive rewards for each person they recruit. How to tell if you're affected You might be affected if you have: joined these WhatsApp groups and have turned off your phone settings that prevent the installation of apps from unknown sources. These settings could look something like: ‘Install unknown apps’ 'Allow unknown sources' installed apps that do not come through official app stores - Google Play Store and iOS App Store - after being asked to scan a QR code, click a link, or download a file someone has shared in a group chat. What to do Prevention Be wary of any app which requires your settings to be changed to install something. Don't turn phone settings on that allow your phone to install unknown apps. These settings will be off by default when you buy your phone. Don't allow anyone else to change settings or convince you to. Mitigation If you have been targeted by this scam and believe you are at risk: back up important documents into a safe offline storage, factory reset your device in your phone settings, change the passwords on the reset device or on a known safe device, check to see if there's any devices that don't belong to you logged in, in the account settings of the account (e.g.: Facebook). If there is, log out any devices you do not recognise, and turn on two-factor authentication. If you think you have been affected or if you have been given a link/copy of a QR code, report to NCSC: Report an incident - individuals and small business More information Txex - WhatsApp educational and investment platform scam | Financial Markets Authority Protect against investment scams | Own Your Online Keep your mobile phone secure |Own Your Online