Indigenous-Led Scam Protection for Māori & Pacific Communities
Helping whānau, aiga, and community protect themselves from scams and digital harm.
ManaProtect™ is an indigenous-led scam protection platform in development, designed with and for Māori and Pacific communities across Aotearoa New Zealand. We're building a practical, culturally grounded platform that helps people report suspicious messages, receive community-informed scam alerts, and get clear guidance on what to do next.
The Harsh Reality
Scams are costing New Zealand $3 billion annually, and Māori and Pacific communities are disproportionately targeted. Scammers exploit trust, language, relationships, and gaps in digital confidence. They weaponise cultural values like koha (gift-giving), whānau obligations, and collective decision-making to deceive us.
Too often, mainstream fraud prevention tools are not designed with our communities in mind. They miss the cultural context, the languages we speak, and the ways we actually communicate and seek support.
ManaProtect is being built to fill that gap.
Simple Protection in 3 Steps
ManaProtect is being designed to make protection feel simple and practical. The first version will focus on helping people report suspicious texts, emails, calls, and social media messages, receive community-informed scam alerts, and get clear guidance on whether to ignore, report, or seek help. Over time, we plan to add AI-supported features to help identify scam patterns and explain risk in everyday language.
Culturally Grounded, Tech-Driven
ManaProtect is being built for Māori and Pacific families, churches, marae, and communities, not adapted as an afterthought from mainstream fraud tools. The vision is to create a practical, culturally grounded platform that reflects our languages, values, and ways of making decisions, while using technology in safe, accessible, and community-led ways. These are some of the features we plan to build over time, shaped by community feedback and real whānau needs.
Be First To Access ManaProtect
Join the ManaProtect waitlist to hear when early access, pilot opportunities, and new updates become available. Early supporters will help shape which features, languages, and partnerships we prioritise, so ManaProtect stays grounded in real whānau and community needs.
ManaProtect is currently in development. Our aim is to keep access affordable, with a mix of free, low-cost, and community-supported options as the platform grows. Pricing will be shaped by community feedback and designed to be accessible to whānau on all incomes.
AI-supported scam checking is part of our longer-term vision for ManaProtect. Early versions will focus first on practical reporting, alerts, and guidance. AI features will be tested carefully with communities, shaped by safety and cultural needs, and introduced only when they add real value.
Protecting trust, privacy, and cultural safety is central to ManaProtect. Data handling will be designed with explicit consent, clear guidance on what is collected and how it is used, and community interests at the centre. We will never train AI on your data without your permission.
Language support is part of our long-term vision. Early priorities will be shaped by community feedback, with a focus on accessibility and cultural relevance. We are starting with te reo Māori and English, with plans to add Samoan, Tongan, and Cook Islands Māori based on community need.
ManaProtect is being developed within the JamesPratt.com ecosystem as an indigenous-led social enterprise focused on scam protection for Māori and Pacific communities. JamesPratt.com provides strategic guidance, community relationships, and operational support.
Yes. ManaProtect is being developed as an indigenous-led social enterprise focused on protecting Māori and Pacific communities from scams and digital harm. That means our goal is not only to build a sustainable platform, but also to create real social impact through culturally grounded, accessible, and community-led protection.
We are looking for community partners, pilot participants, cultural advisors, and early testers. If you represent a marae, Pacific church, iwi organisation, or community group, we would love to talk. Email us at help@manaprotect.com