Art Thieves
Our speaker this week was Judge Arthur (‘Art’) Tompkins, whose most impressive CV can be found on our website.
In addition to his duties as a lawyer and judge, Art has become an expert in the specialised field of Art Crime, about which he lectures widely, and studies further, especially in Europe.
It is an interesting and romantic subject. The theft or looting of artistic treasures goes back to the dawn of civilisation. In recent times it has involved colourful artifacts and even more colourful thieves. One such was the notorious Adam Worth, who was the model for Sherlock Holmes’ archenemy, Dr Moriarty.
Because art thieves tend to focus on the most valuable artworks, they often target high profile aristocratic owners, or the very rich. Other thefts are from galleries and museums, where the security measures are often slack, and far from what one sees in the movies.
Art Tompkins took us through the ‘Museum of the Missing’- works that have been stolen and never recovered. Some may have been destroyed.
The market for valuable artworks in opaque. The rich may not wish to admit to owning art, nor to admit when they have been stolen.
In Art’s opinion, artworks are stolen, not because they can be on-sold, but because they can be ransomed, usually to the insurer, or used as collateral for criminal loans. He doubts there are rich connoisseurs with stupendous secret collections.
Art is an accomplished speaker whose presentation was lavishly illustrated, and much appreciated by our members.
Scam Alert: Fake information regarding December Bonuses from MSD
The Ministry of Social Development is reporting that fake information is circulating about new ‘December bonuses’ or ‘benefit increases’
If you get suspicious communication, please contact Netsafe.
Poll: Do you set New Year’s resolutions?
🎉 2026 is almost here!
We’re curious ... how do you welcome it?
Do you set resolutions, follow special traditions, or just go with the flow?
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10% Yes! New Year, New Me
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17% Yes - but I rarely stick to them
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73% Nah - not for me
Update to Neighbourly members on data breach 06/01/2025 8am
Yesterday in the High Court at Auckland, Neighbourly was successful in being granted an injunction against any unauthorised use of the data taken in a recent breach.
As we alerted you on January 1 and confirmed on January 3, our systems were accessed illegally and members’ information, including names, email addresses, GPS coordinates from the address you provided to us, forum posts and direct member communications were among the data that was accessed.
We acted immediately upon hearing of a potential breach: we temporarily disabled the site, notified members and authorities and worked with our external security consultants to understand if and how it had occurred. We then confirmed the breach with members, safely restored the site to service and began the process of seeking the injunction. Yesterday’s decision by Justice Johnstone prohibits the use of the data by any unauthorised person, and requires them to permanently delete it, or any information obtained from it.
This does not mean that vigilance against scammers is not still required: there is a large industry globally that seeks to use stolen information for identity fraud or to dupe people into providing details of their financial affairs for theft. Again, to keep yourself safe from scammers it is critical that you:
- Don’t click links in emails. Instead, type the web address directly into your browser. This helps ensure you’re visiting a real site, not a fake one
- Enable two-factor authentication where available as this adds an extra layer of security to your data
- Stay alert for phishing emails. Be cautious of unexpected emails asking for personal information, especially ones that create a sense of urgency.
Again, we want to apologise to you for this illegal access to the Neighbourly database and to assure you that we have carefully worked through how this occurred. We have safely secured the site and its services for use and ensured we have robust processes in place so this cannot happen again.
We are continuing to work with the relevant authorities, including the National Cyber Security Centre, on any further steps we need to take.
If you have any further questions please contact us via our customer support team at helpdesk@neighbourly.co.nz.
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