Kia ora Harry Satoshi

I acknowledge receipt of your Official Information Act 1982 (OIA) request below.

Your reference number is IR-01-26-7812.

You can expect a response to your request on or before 2 April 2026 unless an extension is needed.

Ngā mihi
Leo
Police National Headquarters

-----Original Message-----
From: Harry Satoshi <[FOI #33966 email]>
Sent: Thursday, 5 March 2026 9:55 am
To: Ministerial Services <[email address]>
Subject: [EXTERNAL] Official Information request - NZ Police handling of fraud reports involving cryptocurrency or Bitcoin, including statistics, investigation frameworks, triage processes, and international coordination.

CAUTION: This email originated from outside the New Zealand Police Network. DO NOT click links or open attachments unless you recognise the sender and are assured that the content is safe.

Dear New Zealand Police,

I am a New Zealand citizen and journalist (Chief Editor, Cryptocurrency NZ) seeking information under the Official Information Act 1982 on how NZ Police respond to fraud reports involving Bitcoin or cryptocurrency (often classified under offences such as "obtains by deception" per Crimes Act s240), amid reports of rising online and investment scams.

Please provide the following:

1. Aggregated statistics on reported fraud offences where cryptocurrency or Bitcoin was involved (e.g., as the payment method, targeted asset, or scam mechanism).

2. If not tracked separately due to offence-based coding, please provide any proxy data, internal estimates, or relevant excerpts from analyses for the period 2020 to present.

3. Details of the decision-making framework for progressing fraud reports to investigation, including:

a. Any internal guidelines, priority matrices, scoring tools (such as the Initial File Assessment (IFA) or equivalents), or criteria used to triage reports, particularly for online, investment, or cyber-enabled scams.

b. Factors typically considered in assessing "lines of enquiry" or evidence viability (e.g., loss amount, victim vulnerability/impact, offender identifiability, solvability factors, or international elements).

c. Whether any fixed thresholds (e.g., in NZD losses) exist for initiating further action, or if decisions remain fully case-by-case and evidence-based.

d. Internal procedures for initial assessment, allocation to units (e.g., Financial Crime Group), and reasons why some reports may not progress beyond recording (e.g., for lower-value or offshore-linked cases).

4. Information on coordination with overseas authorities for fraud cases involving cryptocurrency affecting NZ residents, including:

a. Typical processes or triggers for engaging international partners (e.g., Interpol, FBI, or Five Eyes networks) in large-scale or cross-border matters, such as when a scammer is identified/exposed and has caused financial losses to NZ individuals or the economy.

b. The minimum threshold (if any exists) for a NZ Police request for assistance from Interpol, FBI, or Five Eyes partners in such cases.

c. Aggregated data on the number of such referrals, joint operations, or arrests involving the Financial Crime Group in recent years (e.g., 2020–2026), without compromising operational details.

5. Any internal assessments, reports, or guidance noting whether crypto-related fraud presents unique investigative challenges (e.g., speed of transfers, blockchain traceability, offshore actors) compared to traditional fraud methods, or any differences in perception/handling by staff (redacted as necessary for sensitivities).

If the requested information is held in documents (e.g., policy chapters, triage matrices, aggregated reports, or excerpts from the Police Policy Directory), please provide copies, redacted only where required under the Act.

This request supports journalistic reporting on public understanding of fraud response processes in the context of increasing online scams, which is in the public interest to promote transparency, informed reporting to Police, and trust in the system.

If any part requires clarification or scoping, please contact me promptly. I am happy for the response to be provided via FYI.org.nz to the originating email address.

Yours faithfully,
Harry Satoshi

Chief Editor, Cryptocurrency NZ
(Christchurch resident)

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