Phone thief raided victim's Sharesies investment account and moved $50,000 in three transfers
A Hamilton man is behind bars after a stolen cellphone gave criminals a direct route into an investment app, netting tens of thousands of dollars. The case also exposed a separate scheme to help scammers cheat an elderly victim out of $24,000.
Key points
- Thieves who stole one man's phone accessed his Sharesies account, a New Zealand investment app, and attempted three bank transfers totalling more than $50,000.
- Marith Khao, 34, of Hamilton, received $17,658 into his account before Sharesies blocked the remaining two transfers.
- Khao was sentenced to 18 months in prison on charges of money laundering, receiving stolen property, and using a document for pecuniary advantage.
- In a separate incident two years earlier, Khao helped launder $24,000 that scammers had taken from a 77-year-old victim.
- The two incidents together involved approximately $74,000 in fraudulent funds.
A stolen cellphone turned into a $50,000 problem for one New Zealand man after thieves used it to break into his Sharesies account, an online investment platform that lets ordinary people buy and sell shares directly from their phone.
Once inside the account, the criminals initiated three bank transfers. Sharesies caught the fraud mid-stream and blocked two of the transfers before they cleared. By then, $17,658 had already landed in a bank account controlled by Marith Khao, a 34-year-old Hamilton resident.
How did Khao fit into this?
Khao received the stolen money knowing it came from fraud. That makes him a money mule, meaning someone who accepts and passes on illegally obtained funds on behalf of criminals, often in exchange for a cut. Courts treat this as money laundering even when the mule did not carry out the original theft.
He was convicted on three charges: money laundering, receiving stolen property, and using a document for pecuniary advantage (that is, using a fake or misused document to gain financially). The Hamilton District Court sentenced him to 18 months in jail.
Was there a second offence?
Yes. Two years before the Sharesies case, Khao helped a separate group of scammers move $24,000 they had taken from a 77-year-old victim. NZ Herald, which first reported the full details of the sentencing, did not name the elderly victim.
Scammers typically contact older people by phone or email, pretend to be from a bank or government agency, and persuade them to transfer money. Khao's role was to receive and redirect those funds, a step that makes the money harder for investigators to trace back to the original crime.
What does this mean for people who invest through apps?
If your phone is stolen, your investment accounts are at risk, not just your banking app. Most investment platforms, including Sharesies, allow users to withdraw funds directly to a linked bank account. A thief with access to an unlocked phone, or one protected only by a simple PIN, can trigger those transfers within minutes.
There are four practical steps worth taking now. First, enable a strong screen lock using a long PIN or biometric (fingerprint or face recognition). Second, turn on two-factor authentication inside every financial app, which means the app sends a one-time code to a second device before allowing any transfer. Third, set up transaction alerts so you receive a text or email the moment any transfer leaves your account. Fourth, if your phone is stolen, contact your investment platform immediately to freeze outgoing transfers.
Sharesies did catch two of the three transfers here. That is the system working. But $17,658 still moved before the block took effect.
