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The “Leave this site quickly” button takes you to the MetService website. It doesn’t clear your browsing history. If someone checks your devices, read how to stay safer while you look for help.

What’s happening?

• Someone is threatening me, or I feel unsafe
• I’ve been scammed, or I’ve sent money
• Someone has got into my account
• Someone is threatening to share intimate images of me
• I’m being harassed or bullied online
• My address or personal details have been posted online
• I think I’m being tracked, or my phone is being watched
• My ID or personal details have been stolen or leaked
• An organisation has mishandled my information
• My organisation has had a privacy breach

Someone is threatening me, or I feel unsafe

1. If there’s an immediate threat, call 111.
2. For family violence, Women’s Refuge runs a 24-hour crisis line on 0800 733 843. Shine’s helpline is 0508 744 633.
3. For sexual harm, Safe to talk is free and open 24 hours. Call 0800 044 334 or text 4334.
4. If you want to talk to someone about how you’re feeling, call or text 1737.
5. Keep evidence of threats. Screenshots should show the date, the sender’s profile and the web address where you can.

I’ve been scammed, or I’ve sent money

Speed matters most here. Do these in order.

1. Call your bank now, using the number on your card or in your banking app, not a number from a message. Most banks run scam lines around the clock. Ask them to stop or recall the payment and to secure your accounts. Since 30 November 2025, banks have operated under strengthened scam protection commitments in the Code of Banking Practice. Reimbursement is possible but not automatic, so ask.
2. If you gave away a password or a code, change that password and any account that used the same one. Start with your email.
3. If you gave away identity details (licence, passport, IRD number), place a credit file suppression. One request to Centrix or Equifax can be passed to the other credit reporters if you agree. How credit suppression works.
4. Report it. To Police on 105 or online. To Netsafe on 0508 638 723, by texting “Netsafe” to 4282, or through its online form. Netsafe can also help you work out what to do next.
5. Forward scam texts to 7726. It’s free, and it helps the Department of Internal Affairs block the senders.
6. Watch for a second scam. People who’ve lost money are often contacted by “recovery services” promising to get it back for a fee. They are almost always scammers too.

You can get free identity support from IDCARE on 0800 121 068.

Someone has got into my account

1. Secure your email first. Whoever controls your email can reset everything else. Change its password from a device you trust.
2. Sign out every other session. Most services have a “sign out of all devices” option in security settings.
3. Check the recovery phone number and email. Remove anything that isn’t yours. This is the step people miss, and it’s how attackers get back in.
4. Turn on two-step verification or a passkey.
5. Tell your contacts if the account was used to message them, so they don’t fall for requests for money.
6. Report it to the National Cyber Security Centre online or on 0800 114 115. If it’s a business account, report it there too.

Our account security guide walks through setting up accounts so this is much harder next time.

Someone is threatening to share intimate images of me

This is called sextortion when the person wants money or more images. It is a crime, and it is not your fault.

1. Don’t pay and don’t send more. Paying rarely ends it and often leads to more demands.
2. Stop replying, but don’t delete the conversation yet. Screenshot the messages, the account name and the profile.
3. Report the account to the platform.
4. Contact Netsafe on 0508 638 723. Netsafe deals with this often and can help get content removed.
5. Contact Police on 105, or 111 if you’re in danger.
6. Stop the images spreading. If you’re 18 or over, StopNCII.org can create a digital fingerprint of the images on your own device, without uploading them, so participating platforms can block them. If the images were taken when you were under 18, use Take It Down, run by the US National Center for Missing & Exploited Children.

If you’re under 18: tell an adult you trust. You won’t be in trouble. Netsafe and Police help young people with this every week.

I’m being harassed or bullied online

1. Keep evidence before you block. Screenshots with dates, usernames and web addresses.
2. Report and block on the platform.
3. Complain to Netsafe. Under the Harmful Digital Communications Act, Netsafe is the agency that receives complaints, investigates, and works with platforms and the people involved to resolve them. Netsafe can’t punish anyone or force them to act. Netsafe has reported record complaint volumes in 2026, so make your report early and mark it urgent if you feel at risk.
4. Go to the District Court if needed. If Netsafe can’t resolve it, you can apply to the District Court for an order, such as taking content down or stopping contact.
5. Call Police if you’ve been threatened, or if someone has posted something intended to cause you serious emotional distress. That can be a criminal offence.

Our guide to online harassment explains the Act’s ten communication principles and what each route can achieve.

My address or personal details have been posted online

1. Capture it. Screenshot every post and copy the web addresses.
2. Report it to the platform as personal information or harassment.
3. Tell Netsafe, and tell Police if the post encourages people to find or harm you.
4. Think about where you’ll be over the next few days. Tell your workplace or school if you need them to be alert.
5. Reduce what’s findable. Ask your council to withhold your name from the rates database, consider the unpublished electoral roll, and work through the personal exposure audit.

I think I’m being tracked, or my phone is being watched

1. Use a device the other person has never had access to to look for help, such as a friend’s phone or a library computer.
2. Don’t confront the person or remove anything yet if you’re worried about how they’ll react. Removing monitoring can alert them. Make a plan first.
3. Talk to an advocate. Women’s Refuge (0800 733 843) helps with technology safety as part of safety planning.
4. Check for trackers. iPhones alert you to unknown AirTags travelling with you. Android phones can scan for unknown trackers in safety settings. Apple’s Safety Check reviews who you’re sharing location and data with.

Read the full technology-facilitated abuse guide before you change settings.

My ID or personal details have been stolen or leaked

1. Passport: report it lost or stolen to the Department of Internal Affairs straight away so it’s cancelled.
2. Driver licence: apply for a replacement through NZTA Waka Kotahi.
3. Credit file: request a suppression so no one can take out credit in your name. Centrix and Equifax say their initial suppression lasts 20 days, so set a reminder to extend it.
4. Bank and IRD: tell your bank, and tell Inland Revenue if your IRD number was exposed.
5. Get support: IDCARE (0800 121 068) is a free identity and cyber support service for New Zealanders.

If you were told about a data breach by an organisation, ask it exactly what was exposed. See what to do after a data breach notice.

An organisation has mishandled my information

1. Raise it with the organisation first, ideally its privacy officer. Every organisation must have one. Say what happened, what harm it caused and what you want done.
2. If you’re not satisfied, complain to the Privacy Commissioner. It’s free.
3. To see what they hold about you, use our request letter builder.

My organisation has had a privacy breach

1. Contain it: revoke access, recover data, preserve logs. For a cyber attack, call the NCSC on 0800 114 115.
2. Assess it with our breach assessment record.
3. Notify the Privacy Commissioner through NotifyUs if it’s likely to cause serious harm. The Commissioner expects this within 72 hours of becoming aware.
4. Tell affected people what happened and what they can do.

Follow the breach response plan to keep the steps in order.