Hawaiʻi Police Department
South Kohala District
Sergeant Thomas Chun-Ming
Phone: (808) 887-3080
Media Release
Hawai‘i Island police are offering tips to help island residents keep their financial and digital information safe after receiving reports about different types of telephone and online scams affecting citizens in our community.
One of the scams includes criminals posing as police officers demanding money via wire transfer. Police remind the public that impersonating a police officer is a crime, punishable by up to one year in prison and a $2,000 fine for each offense upon conviction.
The Hawaii Police Department will never ask you to wire money. Payment is only needed after a service request, such as duplication of police reports and applications related to firearms. Payment is generally required once someone is charged for an offense and their bail is set. The only acceptable forms of bail payment at the local police station are cash or a bond through a licensed bail bonds company. When the bail payment is received you will be provided with a receipt.
The following scams have been reported most recently in the South Kohala district and may also be occurring in other parts of the Big Island. The scams include:
Spoofing scam
Spoofing is a type of scam that criminals use to make something, like a telephone number, appear to be legitimate. In one situation, a victim recently reported receiving several telephone calls, one of which was from…
