HONOLULU, HI – Scammers are calling Hawai?i residents pretending to be Federal Bureau of Investigations (“FBI”) agents. The callers are lying and telling potential victims that they owe unpaid fines and are going to be arrested unless they immediately make a payment in Bitcoin or other cryptocurrency, or using other methods.

The scammers are “spoofing” a Hawai?i Department of the Attorney General phone number — (808) 586-1282 — in an apparent attempt to lend fraudulent authenticity to their scam. “Spoofing” makes false information appear on a phone’s caller ID — usually a fake local number or, as in this case, a local government law enforcement agency. The scammers use “scam scripts” to try to steal money or valuable personal information.

“Law enforcement agencies, including the Department of the Attorney General and the FBI, will never — and I repeat, never — call Hawai?i residents on the phone demanding them to transmit money, whether in the form of cryptocurrency, an anonymous payment card, a wire transfer, or any other means, in order to avoid imminent arrest,” says Hawai?i Attorney General Anne Lopez. “These people are criminal scammers.  Immediately hang up the phone, do not call them back, and under no circumstances reveal personal information or send them money.”

The Department of the Attorney General is coordinating with the FBI to protect Hawai?i residents. If you or someone you know has been the victim of these phone scammers, contact the Department of the Attorney General’s Investigations Division at (808) 586-1240.