ASB data indicates the number of customers tricked into fraudulent money-making schemes has tripled over the past two years.
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Data released by ASB this April Fool's Day indicates investment scams, particularly those involving crypto-currency, top list of scams over the past two years ended March.
"Falling for a scam certainly doesn't make you a fool," ASB head of fraud operations Mark Emmett said.
"We're seeing scams becoming very highly sophisticated, which makes them hard to spot and it unfortunately means more Kiwis are being caught out."
The bank's data also shows more than double the number of customers falling for romance scams in the past two years.
ASB customers who reported falling victim to 'phishing' and 'smishing'* scams peaked during the pandemic, with a big spike between November 2020 and January 2021, following a 'smishing' attack in which scammers posed as a postal agency.
That attack affected more than 1000 customers per month, compared with a normal average of 100 cases.
"Covid has put people in situations where they are isolated from their support networks and this can prevent them from getting a second opinion," Emmett said.
"Financial pressures brought on by Covid are also making people more susceptible to being deceived by scams offering opportunities to make money, so it's no surprise that we've seen these figures increase during the pandemic."
He said a lack of knowledge and awareness about crypto-currencies also contributed to more people being duped.
"Crypto-currency offers a new investment opportunity some Kiwis are keen to take advantage of, however as there's still a lack of understanding around it, we're seeing more people being lured by investment scams rather than seeking advice from a registered financial advisor."
Emmett said another worrying trend was the rise of more complex cold call scams, with the bank reporting double the number of customers being caught out by a scammer posing as a bank employee in the past 12 months.
Older bank customers were more vulnerable to scams, but younger customers were also falling victim.
More than 70 percent of ASB's customers who had fallen victim to an investment, romance or cold calling scam during the pandemic were over the age of 50.
The average age of customers who fell victim to an investment scam was 58, an average age of 60 for a romance scam, and those falling for cold calling tending to be slightly older at an average age of 77.
"Scams impact customers of all ages, in fact we're seeing younger people regularly being caught out via social media," he said
"It's typically our customers over the age of 50 who are more likely to report it, as they often suffer a larger financial loss."
Emmett said most people did not realise they were being scammed and recommended people look at too-good-to-be-true offers with healthy scepticism.
The bank offered customers a help line and other services to combat fraud.
