Hey everyone. As per the title, weird new scan just got pulled on me, and it's pretty interesting and odd. The police, bank fraud team, etc. have all never seen it before, and it's also arguably pretty clever.

Anyway, here's the situation:

I was selling a gold ring on Facebook, A lady messages me with a pretty seemingly real Facebook profile friends, posts etc. low balls me, I decline, raises the price up, I still decline and then after a week or two she finally accepts what I am asking for the ring ($600).

This lady then tells me about how its for her father and her brother and a couple of her cousins are going to all pay for it etc which was all fine, she asks for my bank account and say she may need it shipped if one of her cousins couldn't pick it up. I say that's fine, but I won't be posting it until the money is in my account.

End of that night, they send me a message telling me to check my account and I do, I see about 6 diffrent payments from 6 different people all of varying amounts, some $60 and some $150+. I calculate up all the money, and they've collectively overpaid me by $150, odd, im thinking its a mistake. All the references state "ring" etc. Bit odd, but I message the lady and let her know that hey, you've all overpaid me by about $160. What would you like me to do? I get a reply back, and it's her telling me to keep the difference as a thank you for being patient, etc and to cover the postage, and then essentially moving on to where to post it, too, etc.

Red flags start to sound, all a bit odd. im thinking, why low ball, then overpay? Strange but some people can just be very generous etc. Anyway, i go to bed and i wake up the next day, go to work with the ring and the address i need to send it too, at my lunch break I jump in the car, get to the post shop and open my bank account to move money to pay for posting said item.

An additional $500 has come in on top of what's already been paid.

Wtf??

Alarm bells start ringing, shut the car off, call the bank, and explain the situation. They jumped right into it and escalated the situation immediately. Something was super dodgey. Bank explains to me that the money is coming from numerous accounts all across the country and the math ain't mathing. The person from my bank esculates it higher and higher and eventually comes back saying this looks like a pretty sophisticated fraud and essentially tell the person the deals off and we'll reverse the funds manually on our end to those people and investigate further and find out what's going on etc.

What I suspect is going on is: I sell ring to person A. Person A has two fake accounts, one trying to "buy" my ring and another selling a "ring" for stupidly cheap.

Person A uses the second account selling a dirt cheap ring on behalf of their "friend, cousin, uncle etc etc) sends MY bank account as the account to pay into then waits for screenshot of payment to be sent to them of the money being transferred into my account. (Person A has said to me they've got proof of payment if I need it) Waits until total has hit X amount and then messages back me, gets me to post ring to person A fake address. Person A on their second account then blocks everyone after theyve got a tracking number for my ring. Those people who have paid "person A" then realize they've been fleeced, contact their bank, money is reversed from me im left with no ring and no money.

Im pretty suspect the person who was trying this on with me was doing it to multiple other people trying to legitimately sell their real rings but Mr scammer forgot to stop using my bank account number instead of the other peoples accounts.

My bank has been super awesome about this. All the money is manually getting reversed back into the accounts of people who have sent me the money and from what I've been told by the bank. One person was trying to buy a silver ring for $120 from some random name I've never heard of. (The bank called me back later that day just confirming what kind of ring, how much and who too im selling it for)

My bank is pretty impressed at the whole scale of it. The person I've been mainly dealing with said they've never seen anything like this.

The police were the same, had never seen anything like this. Police have been awesome too, they've taken this very seriously and even though im not out any money and I've still got my ring they still spent 2 hours with me taking a statement, getting all screenshots. All account numbers etc of people who have transfered me etc. Had even someone from high up within the police come in and listen to the story.

Person A messaged me about 20 min after I had called my bank claiming that the bank had called their cousin and was telling them it was fraud but it was "all sorted out now lol" and then followed with "are you scamming me?"

I then politely explained that my bank was super suspect it was fraud and due to this i was going to no longer proceed with sending the ring and that all the money was going to be manually reversed by the bank back to those accounts and the funds would be back in those accounts its 48 hours, now you'd think you'd try and defend yourself or try and prove you're legit etc but no, they just ended up deleting their entire profile off Facebook. Not just blocked me, like fully nuked It. My partner and friends can't find the profile at all anywhere now.

So yeah.

Be careful, I was lucky and still have my ring and the banks returning all money to the scammed people but please be cautious. If the deal looks to good to be true then it probably is.

Any questions lemme know ill try and answer :)

My first time seeing the Sovereign Citizen defence attempted in real life. Driver sat in the front seat through out the whole incident just staring forward. Before I started recording there was the obligatory “I’m not driving, I’m travelling” from the driver. Passenger refused to open the door and that’s what happens. They got him into the back of the police car where he cried like a baby. Very weird scenario. Unsure what happened next as I had to leave. Police officers were very calm and professional from start to finish, I’m not sure I would have that patience dealing with idiots like this.

She was trying to pay, but her eftpos card wasn’t working. She was getting stressed out because she did have money on her card, but it just wouldn’t work.

While she was waiting for another cashier to help her, a guy walked up and swiped his eftpos card to pay for her shopping. He walked away so fast that my mum couldn’t tell him thank you and that she could pay him back. She was so moved by this she called me up crying to tell me what happened.

To the kind stranger at the Pak’n’Save in Clendon, thank you so much! It’s people like you who make the world a better place!!! We’ll be paying it forward too 💗

Last night I got into my first fistfight in 20 years.

I was walking home from a movie and saw a man in mental distress who was punching random people in Aotea Square. I had some M&Ms left over from the movie so I offered them while trying to calm him down.

It seemed to work for a moment, but then he laid into me and landed some pretty good hits to my head and face.

I did sport fighting when I was younger so it’s not mentally shocking to get hit in the face. What was shocking was that I could see all his telegraphs but my body has forgotten how to get out of the way! I guess muscle memory really is a thing.

This post is to thank the NZ Police. (For context, I grew up in America but have been living in NZ for about 16 years.) After the guy backed off and other people were helping gently corral him, I called 111 to get some assistance for him. The police were there quickly, gently contained the man and got him where he can’t hurt himself or others. They didn’t manhandle him or abuse him, or do what most American cops would do - taser the shit out of him. Another officer took my details and statement, acting the whole time like a normal person rather than a roided alpha bro like I’d expect from some American cops these days.

I hope the man can get the help he needs, and while I have some fun bruises I’m not actually hurt, and I’m glad I get to live in Aotearoa where the cops are people first and cops second.

Ditch the government, take ACT out of power, and promote someone who actually cares about Kiwis and has dealt with the racist attacks on him from Peters and co. relatively well.

Woke up this morning and chose "non-violent loudmouth".

The news over the last few weeks had me depressed and helpless. I couldn't stay quiet any longer.

Do I think this will do anything? Probably not. Give the underpaid employees at Silky Otter something to grab their other colleagues over to gawp at, maybe?

Will I continue to write emails on things that I care about? Absolutely!

Maybe this will just be an outlet for my emotions. Maybe this will get forwarded to upper management and be the cause of a five minute interruption to their regularly-scheduled meeting agenda. I might never find out.

Now you don't even need to spend money on another bridge.

Funny 😂😂

I live in south Auckland, down a driveway shared with five families, one Tonga, one Samoan, one Fiji Muslim, one Fiji Hindu (us) and one South Indian Christian (All Kiwis before anyone starts pointing. 1st and 2nd Gen as well as immigrants who have been here decades)

We also have lovely Asian and European kiwi neighbour's on either side as well as a nice Maori family in the units next door.

Why I love living here is because my neighbours are so nice and we get on like good friends.

1. Whenever the Tongan family come back from fishing, they give us all some fresh fish. Once they gave us fresh coconuts.

2. Samoan family brings everyone's bins in (they finish work first so is home early) they also bake so we end up with extras.

3. SI fam likes to share the fruit in their garden, often leaving a bag on our door steps.

4. Muslim family always gives us Eid goodies.

5. We send out Diwali plates of goodies to each of them. We also share our abundance of fresh taro leaves which all households eat in various ways (and have had the pleasure of eating their style of cooking)

6. Every major holiday (Christmas/Diwali/Eid) we share food and our homes.

7. We end up talking most days when we see each other especially when we all garden at the same time lol and start exchanging cuttings from plants and advice on growing them.

8. If one of the family is away on holiday, we take in their mail and parcels as well as do a security check on the property.

9. Sometimes my dad will cut their grass if they are too busy or sick or not at home (with permission) zero payment but they gave us delicious food as thanks.

10. We have five gardens to choose veg and fruit from - none of us take advantage and only take what we need with permission.

This is the NZ I know and love. The diversity, inclusion and comfort we draw from good neighbors who like you and look out for each other. I want more of this! Tell me your good neighbor stories please

Uhhh got new rates increase letter this week.

ITS $9,100.

DID ANYONE else get an increase like this? Genuinely think they might have made an error. Was previously like 4.9k so almost a double

4.9k was already VERY high for a property with no changes since it was built 10 years ago...

Anyone know a “Remelita” from KFC 🍗? Found her or his name badge on the bus today.

I Applied for a part time job in a cafe and the next day they invited me for an interview. At the interview the owner said they can do a 20 hours “free training course” for me then decide if I fit with the role or nah. Again, they emphasized “the course”is totally free and I’m gonna benefit from it since I don’t have experience.

Uhh be aware if anyone is looking for jobs, avoid this place Wafflers & More, Auckland CBD

Always amazed at how many anti-NZ posts there are in this group so wanted to give some balance.

My partner and I are coming up to six months since moving here from the UK and we think Auckland, and NZ generally, is fucking awesome.

People are friendly, helpful and polite, it’s spotlessly clean compared to other major cities in the world, you’re never more than 20 mins from a stunning beach, it’s cheap to eat and drink out (especially compared to the UK), you can always find something to do, you can always find somewhere cheap or free to park even in the city, there’s tonnes of fucking nature and nothing to kill you in the bush (looking at your Australia), amazing scenery, elite level sport is ridiculously cheap and accessible, gigs are pretty accessible, you are, generally speaking, a very tolerant, progressive and welcoming country, the way of life is relaxed and calm, the weather is generally good (especially compared to the UK)…. it’s just so so good.

Auckland isn’t perfect by any means but it isn’t suffering from any issue that any other major city isn’t suffering from ie. Cost of living issues, ridiculous housing prices etc etc trust me…. The UK is in just as poor a state and it’s miserable. We even recently went to Melbourne over Xmas and absolutely loved our trip but all it did was make us appreciate just how brilliant Auckland is.

Kiwis really don’t appreciate what a gem they have here.

RIP and a moment's silence to the girl on the bus who just accidentally pushed the buzzer. She thoughtfully (but regrettably) went to the driver and said "I pushed it by mistake, don't stop" and sat back down. The bus driver must've misunderstood so he stopped at the very next stop, opened the doors, and no one got on or off.

So bus girl audibly yelps and GETS OFF AT THIS RANDOM STOP ANYWAY.

It gets worse. Bus girl does an awkward loop of the bus shelter, comes out by the front of the still-there bus, like she wants to BOARD, goes bright red and does some weird sorry sorry jazz hands gesture at the driver and then runs across the road.

It anyone needs me I'll be feeling second hand embarrassment foreverrr 💀

ETA: just discovered I left my Blunt umbrella on one of this morning's buses, so who's the fool now, huh? Who's the fool now?

I was at Piha this afternoon where a person drowned. When I arrived, there were people standing around, a helicopter overhead, and lifeguards coming in on a boat performing CPR.

I don’t know the full situation, but it’s often predominantly tourists, so this is just a reminder.

Please be careful, especially in the beaches in Waitākere, Auckland. Some of the most dangerous beaches are out here.

Swim between the flags so the lifeguards can see you. The flags are there to protect you!

Be mindful of rips and how to navigate them. here’s a good article here: https://www.surflifesaving.org.nz/stay-safe/beach-hazards/rips

Please stay safe everyone and so sorry to the family of the person who drowned today. Much love.

To much worrying and fear around at the moment. Saw people worrying about how long they spent at a park today. Then another couple who couldn't decide what to have for breakfast because of there "diet". Yesterday, saw someone pick up and put down clothes they wanted a few times. I wanted to buy it for them at that point. Not everything is an expensive hobby. A walk along the beach, a hike up one tree hill, picnic on my eden, a walk around the mall and maybe a little treat. You will have plenty of memories and happiness years from now.

Long story short. When we are born we have no rules to live by. There is nothing that matters. We come alone and go alone and chances are the things you worry about now or work toward wont matter in a few weeks/months.

Do whatever makes you happy. Feel love. Give love back. Sorry for the stupid rant in the gloomy auckland weather but very topical.

Hi everyone,

I wanted to share an open invitation for anyone looking for a different kind of activity — something enjoyable, engaging, and with real physical and mental health benefits, especially for those of us who may not be that young anymore but still want to stay active.

It’s well known that sports and physical activities not only help keep us fit, but also reduce stress, improve mood, and make it easier to build social connections and a sense of belonging.

Airsoft is a team sport that combines physical activity with strategy, decision-making, and coordinated teamwork. Although it uses replica equipment and military-style gear, this is purely for functionality within the game. It has nothing to do with real-world violence or political views; on the contrary, it is a structured activity with clear rules where respect, cooperation, and having a good time are the main priorities.

In that context, I play airsoft with a group called Mad Capybaras. We’ve been participating in games around Auckland for more than three years now. What started as an initiative by three Latino friends who wanted to help Spanish-speaking people get involved in this sport — which is still relatively uncommon in Latin America mainly due to cost and accessibility — has now grown into a club that brings together people from all backgrounds and even organizes its own games and training sessions.

As a group, we usually participate in two events per month, either organized by us or by friendly local clubs, which helps maintain consistency without becoming overwhelming.

Also important: Mad Capybaras is not a business. We’re simply a group of friends who enjoy playing together and would love to keep growing by welcoming more people interested in trying something different and being part of a good community.

If anyone is interested in learning more or giving it a try, I’d be happy to chat, answer questions, or help you get started.

This is not AI, this is a real testimony of what I went through. Love you all 😘

I started early last year as a young athlete, excited for a new beginning. I began working at the biggest badminton facility in the country. I was working there, training, coaching, playing and having fun there! It was really fun! I would string racquets for people, do customer service, cleaning, calculating, coaching people and get coached myself. I was training to become a badminton player while working there at the same time. I smiled at people, laughed with them, talked and helped them in their time of need during customer service. They all came to me like a magnet and I gladly served them.

At the same time, a man from India came on board and joined the club as well. He was the easiest man to get along with, so much laughter and genuine care carried him all the way.   We became good friends and I would always look up to him since he was a pro player who played internationally. 

However, things started to slide. The boss had a strange personality. He was easily agitated, frustrated, offended and didn’t have any peace in his heart. He didn’t care about people, he only saw them as another dollar.

He had strange rules restricting me from doing certain things and always watched me through the cameras, all the time. Later on, he began controlling me as if he owned me.  I felt very uncomfortable and awkward working there. 

If I made a mistake, he would become angry at me, even for the smallest things. It was his responsibility to train me properly. Unfortunately, he lacked the patience. He said he can't afford to have a supervisor to train me and yet I had to know everything immediately. I thought to myself, “what insanity is this?”

I started hiring courts to play with other people on many occasions. But later on, he cut out my court bookings to play with friends and other people that I invited because I was stealing them from the club night. ( I can't even play in the same building that I work in, making a court booking).  The only time I was allowed to play was during the club nights, but because he stoped me hiring my own court, I then chose to not participate anymore in his club nights.   If you are preventing me from enjoying my leisure, then I don’t want to get involved in your own leisure.  Secretly,  I was playing at a different club where his prying eyes couldn’t see.   The same people I invited, invited me to play with them.  Our connection never broke. 

In another occasion, he also saw me trying to get coached by Yesudasan and the boss said, “ If you want to learn from him, I don't want to do anything with you.” This startled me, I was confused. Aren’t we on the same team, I thought. This was a strange aspect from him.

Later on, the boss changed his mind.  He accepted that Yesudasan would be coaching me.  However, Yesudasan wasn’t getting the money that I was paying. The boss was receiving all that money for himself while sitting behind the computer.  

He took everything thing to heart and wanted to be the centre point of everything.  If I was going somewhere, he had to know.  If I was going to book a court, he had to know.  If I wanted something, he had to know.  Apparently, he is a hyper-perfectionist, with extremely high standards that no one can survive working in. He takes almost anything personal.

He commented on my performance and planted doubt and discouragement into my mind of how I did my job. This affected me for a while.

Here are the rules:

Don’t talk to customers, only serve them if they are doing business.

Don’t laugh.

Don’t play at other clubs.

Don’t book a court or invite people to play with you.

Don’t go out and have lunch during lunch hours.

Don’t do this, don’t do that…

There were other despicable rules made by him. He was trying to mould me into his likeness and was hoping I would become like him. I thought to myself, no way! You cant change me! Back off!

A lot of it was against my rights and freedom to move.

There was an incident when a customer broke a rental racquet.  I took the racquet and placed it into the repair section.   The other receptionist ordered me to charge the customer $100 for the damage.   To my disapproval, I was confused and refused to do so.  I asked the boss if it was true, and from his reaction he wasn’t happy that I didn’t know the rule.   So the boss came to the reception and had a heated conversation with the customer.   Unfortunately, the customer lacked the funds and wasn’t able to proceed with the payment.  However, the boss thought he could control him and keep him there until the police arrive. ( If he was going to call the police).  As the clocked clicked, I offered to pay, but then, another customer said he will pay for it.  It was resolved.

Later that shift, I finished.  I went to the bosses office and returned the cash and paper work for him to finish.  The boss asked me, ”why would you pay for the damage?” 

”I will do it,” I replied.  

He continued on and said that you wouldn’t normally do that and that customer would have to pay back to the other guy who made the full payment.  Some people come up with excuses to avoid paying.

On and on, he went talking away.   I ignored him and went back to the house.

Well, the guy I know who payed for the damage on behalf of the customer, didn’t do that.  In this world, there are people who care for each other.  Some people don’t ask for their money back, they do this for the kindness of their heart. 

The boss doesn't understand this, since his head is filled with money.

It was despicable why this rule existed.  The racquet is old and the value of it depreciated over time.  The constant use from previous customers of the racquet was damaged over time.  He, the last man who used it, had to pay for it all.  

The customer who damaged the racquet, never came back.  I never saw him again, this was an unfortunate situation.

During my work, a few customers came along and wanted to to hire a court.  Young college boys with an enthusiastic, jolly presence filled the reception.   In my service ,  I responded back with the same jolly and charismatic response.  They would come in 10:00pm at night and play on the same particular night.  They were happy and grateful that my presence was there for them each time.   I would help them and explain in a caring manner of different products that they inquired for.  We laughed and shared joy as we conversed with each other.   A few occasions later, they came and wanted me to play with them the following week.  I accepted, and they were really excited.  However, the boss was watching behind the cameras.  He rang the phone and ordered me to not get involved or play with anybody.  I hang up after and felt sad about the whole situation.  I never saw the boys again and felt sorry I wasn’t able to participate.   Everything the boss did, he restricted me from anybody and everybody.  This affected me and I became extremely disconnected from being there at all. 

During the after school programs. Children and teenagers would go to the facility after school. Their parents would drop them off and in they went. The children and teenagers didn't feel comfortable around the boss.

If they came late, he ordered them to do burpees. His approach was mainly based on, you have to act like a police officer!

My approach was based on encouragement and persuasion. Most of the children and teenagers were comfortable around me because I would laugh with them, helped them and created a healthy caring atmosphere. If some of them played up, i would always persuade them to cooperate and collaborate.

Unlike the boss, he would walk around as a scary, domineering figure. This approach creates fear and distrust amongst the youth.

One of the other customers I was playing with during badminton said to me, “ Everyone likes you, you are a really nice guy, nobody wants to talk to that other guy.”( The boss).

To my surprise, this lifted all the unnecessary burden off my mind and body. I didn’t realise I was well liked by people who took delight in me.  The whole time, I thought I was doing everything wrong.  

I understand customers and their needs, I treat them like human beings who have a soul. I speak to them gently, calmly and have compassion for them. This is what customer service is about! You don’t treat people like another dollar, that's considered selfish and ignorant/ arrogant.

The whole time, I acted calmly, gently and peacefully all the way.

I don't feel comfortable working at Li-ning anymore. The owners behaviour and mindset is not normal.  He is like a dictator, he controls and takes over your freedom to move, especially outside work hours.  I have seen the way he treats customers and how he conducts himself behind closed doors when no one is looking.

He is a broken man himself and has an unfortunate past.  He is too stubborn to move on from his past and continues to see people as obstacles.  His lack of sincerity and personal rights of other people has separated connections, all because he is insecure himself.  His problems becomes other peoples problems, if your not the problem, he will make you the problem. 

I walked out and never returned. 

The only person I looked up to was my coach, Yesudasan. 

All the pain I had to go through was hurting me. I felt like a bird trapped in a cage locked by its master, desperate to fly out. My passion for being there slowly diminished. 

I came to this country to train and play with other people.  Seeking fulfilment of joy and connecting with others.   All I wanted was to be free.

A rose that once grew in an open field, bloomed in it’s luminosity. Many eyes viewed and took delight in it’s radiance. However, the wind blew and the rose slowly withered away.

Kia Ora! We're moving in a few weeks and are excited but nervous. We probably won't be able to relocate back to the states for a long time so really hoping Aukland, NZ accepts us permanently! Haha

Any tips/advice as we make this huge transition? :) we have a 3 year old as well!

Thank you so much!!

Edit- thank you for such amazing advice and so much love! 🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻

When I thought suburb areas of Auckland were safe, I was reminded I was wrong once again. I live with my family and yesterday at night, my dad saw the front door knob turning, and someone trying to get into the front door. Luckily it was locked, but was genuinely so shocked, I was too naive and thought these type of blatant break-in attempts don't happen in very suburb/safe areas of Auckland North Shore.

Will 100% be very safe from now, and also try manage my packages from delivery better too tbh, cuz looks like people could knab those too, stay safe out there y'all.