In the war against bid rigging, the Commerce Commission has today released new guidelines to secure a fair playing field for consumers.

Bid rigging - a form of cartel conduct - is prohibited by the Commerce Act 1986.

Cartels are formed when companies collude with their competitors to increase or maintain prices, divide geographical territories, customers or projects between themselves, agree to limit production, and/or engage in bid rigging, according to the Commerce Commission.

Bank scammers, who appear to be from Australia, are now operating in New Zealand, according to the Commerce Commission.

“There is a similar scam operating in Australia [and] it appears the details are so similar that it’s probably the same group, said Greg Allan, the Commerce Commission enforcement manager, Wellington.

“So we are coordinating the information that we have with Australia.”