Priscilla du Preez/Unsplash Number porting fraud is rare in New Zealand but can have a devastating impact. (File photo) Government cybersecurity agency CERT NZ puts the average financial loss from these attacks at $30,000. The fraud involves an attacker requesting a transfer of the victim’s number to their own SIM card on a new provider. Once they have access to the victim's number, the fraudster can take advantage of the two-factor authentication used by banks to authenticate logins and large money transfers. NZ Telecommunications Forum communications director Andrew Pirie said number porting was introduced in 2007 to make it easy for consumers to retain their existing phone number when changing mobile providers.