Hawaiʻi banks warn customers of phishing scams

Hawaiʻi Bankers Association announced today that eight of its members across the state of Hawaiʻi are joining efforts to alert the public about increased phishing scams and fraudulent activity targeting customers’ personal and banking information.

Phishing scams often involve criminals posing as legitimate financial institutions, using email, text messages or phone calls to trick customers into disclosing their personal and financial information. Consumers are specifically seeing an increased amount of phishing text messages, which include malicious links to fraudulent websites made to look like banking sites.

“The Hawaiʻi Bankers Association is committed to keeping customers’ financial information safe,” said Neal Okabayashi, executive director at Hawaiʻi Bankers Association. “Scammers are becoming increasingly sophisticated and are finding new ways to steal personal information. We ask for everyone’s help to remain vigilant and to avoid providing sensitive information in a text message or to someone who contacts you unexpectedly.”

According to the Federal Trade Commission, consumers lost nearly $8.8 billion to fraud in 2022, which is more than a 30% increase over the previous year, and received fraud reports from 2.4 million people.

Tips to Protect Against Phishing Scams

1. Never provide personal or financial information to anyone who contacts you unsolicited. Banks will never call, e-mail or text customers for log-in credentials, password, debit card PIN or a Security Access Code.
2. Don’t click on suspicious links, especially if it asks you to sign in to your bank account.
3. Verify the legitimacy of any communication by calling the customer service number provided on the back of your debit or credit card.
4. Delete the suspicious message to avoid accidentally replying to the message.
5. Keep your contact information up-to-date, in case your bank needs to alert you about suspicious activity.
6. Regularly review your account statements and report any suspicious transactions immediately.

Participating HBA Members:

• American Savings Bank
• Bank of Hawaiʻi
• Central Pacific Bank
• Finance Factors
• First Hawaiian Bank
• Hawaiʻi National Bank
• HomeStreet Bank
• Territorial Savings Bank