Outsmarting scammers with the Fraud Film Festival
• March 31, 2023
Corruption, technology and dishonesty were the themes of this year’s New Zealand Fraud Film Festival. Image: Supplied
People and companies will always need knowledge to outsmart scammers, and an entertaining way to provide it was behind the 2023 New Zealand International Film Fraud Festival (NZIFFF).
Corruption, technology and dishonesty were the main themes of the festival which ran this week at Auckland's Q Theatre and also included expert discussion panels on fraud and how to prevent it.
Among the films shown was the national premiere of The Talented Mr. Rosenberg, which features an extensive and unflinching interview with con artist Albert Rosenberg.
“But the filmmaker takes a really interesting approach to this, because they're not just content to let him talk, but they really interrogate him on what he's saying," said producer Steve Newall.
“It fact checks the garbage he has to say and really offers a lot more sympathy towards the victims as well than a lot of true crime content would, which often uses people's pain as kind of narrative strength.”
Newall said NZIFFF helps raise awareness of how to combat fraud and bring people who work in that field to “collaborate, share ideas and … use the festival as a kind of jumping-off point for the work they are already doing.”
“I think it's just unfortunate to see that any time there's people trying to do something nice or something good, there's people trying to take advantage of that.”
As technology develops, so do the methods of fraud. In recent years, phishing and social media scams have become more pronounced, as have efforts to prevent them.
“But at any time, there are people being duped out of money that could make a real difference to their lives. And that's always really disappointing.”
Panellists include speakers from organisations like the Serious Fraud Office, Deloitte and the Financial Markets Authority (FMA).
Newall says people can find fraud films entertaining to watch, but they must stay vigilant.
“Don't think that you're too smart to get scammed, because what we learned from this event is some very, very smart people are fooled by things that seem obvious when they're told in narrative form.”
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