Hilo residents, take heed: con artists are dialing up scams and masquerading as police officers in an attempt to swindle money from unwitting individuals. Hawai‘i Island Police have issued a renewed warning about these phone scammers who contact their victims, claim to be officers of the law, and concoct stories of arrest warrants that can only be settled through transferring money via Coinstar machines.
The scammers aren't shy about providing fictitious credentials over the phone, including fake names, agencies, badge numbers, and telephone numbers. But make no mistake, the Hawai‘i Police Department does not engage in such practices. They never ask for, nor accept payment through Coinstar machines or Bitcoin Crypto-Currency as any form of payment. A focus on urgent, coercive tactics—a hallmark of these swindles—should raise immediate red flags for citizens who are encouraged to verify the authenticity of such calls before doing anything else.
In an effort to prevent residents from falling prey to such fraudulent activities, the Hawai‘i Police Department has outlined several protective measures. Among these suggestions, they advise to verify the caller’s identity by requesting their full name, identification number, and contact details, and then corroborating this information with publicly available contacts of the police department. They also underscore the importance of refraining from sharing any personal information over the phone unless the legitimacy of the caller is certain.
The department has also emphasized the importance of community education in thwarting these scams. They urge the public to share this information with friends, family, and other individuals particularly susceptible to deception. By raising awareness about the deceptive tactics used by scammers, including the use of urgency and threats of legal consequences, we can collectively protect our personal information and finances.
If you receive a dubious phone call of this nature, the advice is simple: hang up and reach out to the police department's non-emergency number at (808) 935-3311 to confirm the call's legitimacy. It’s always better to be safe than sorry, especially when a single phone call can potentially safeguard your hard-earned money and personal information from the hands of imposters.
