RECOMMENDATIONS

IDCARE advises Pacificezy customers to:

• Be on the look out for emails, phone calls and text messages purporting to be from Pacificezy, financial institutions, telecommunications carriers, Government or other response agencies that request that you click on a link, provide personal or credential information, or request that you provide remote access to your device. Unfortunately, scammers and cybercriminals leverage privacy breach events in seeking to deceive community members to provide personal, account or credential information, infect devices, or motivate individuals to perform actions as part of a scam. IDCARE recommends:

1. Never respond to unsolicited communications, even if the individual communicating with you knows a little bit about you, without first making your own enquiries using alternative contact methods;
2. If you have been notified that a password has been exposed, ensure any other online account that uses the same username and password combination has had its password changed. Mixing up passwords, making them long and strong, and applying a Password Manager is recommended. If an online account affords multi-factor authentication, IDCARE recommends that this is activated.
3. Don’t be pressured to respond to communications that create a sense of urgency to “act now.” Scammers want you to react quickly without giving you time to think. They may advise you that if you don’t act now you will lose access to a service, lose money, or even be arrested. Or they may offer you a refund or discount as a result of a cyber security incident, but only if you respond now.
4. Keep abreast of development in relation to this privacy breach by visiting the Pacificezy website.
5. If you believe you have responded to a scam communication or need further advice from IDCARE, please complete an IDCARE Get Help for Individuals form or call our New Zealand Case Management Centre on 0800 121 068 between 10:00am NZST and 5:00pm NZST Monday to Friday.

• Stay abreast of the latest scams impacting New Zealand's community via IDCARE’s News and Media website, Facebook page, and by subscribing to our free community newsletter, Cyber Sushi.

Response Recommendations by Credentials

IDCARE has formed response recommendations relating to the credentials potentially exposed as a result of the Pacificezy cyber incident. Please refer to your incident notification for specifics on what information of yours was exposed.