Honolulu Police Department: CrimeStoppers: Phone Spoofing

Press release from the Honolulu Police Department:

January 25, 2022

CrimeStoppers and the Honolulu Police Department (HPD) would like to inform the public of reports of people receiving spoofed phone calls from the HPD.Multiple individuals are reporting that they received a phone call from someone claiming to be with HPD. In one incident, the person used the fictitious name of Officer Aaron Edwards and stated that they obtained the victim’s information from an adult website.The HPD does not call, text, or email individuals to solicit payment electronically or by phone. Hawaii residents should not provide credit card numbers or other personal information to callers claiming to represent a law enforcement agency.The HPD does not solicit donations from the public. If you receive a phone call from someone soliciting donations on behalf of the HPD, please hang up.

Phone SpoofingThere is an app that allows phone spoofing. It conceals the number of the phone being used and uses another phone number to appear on your caller ID. It can appear to be a federal government agency or a local police department. This can also be used to imitate utility companies, such as Hawaiian Electric Company or Board of Water Supply, in order to collect false debts.Anyone with information about these incidents is asked to call CrimeStoppers at (808) 955-8300. The public may now send anonymous web tips to www.honolulucrimestoppers.org or via the P3 Tips App.

This press release was produced by the Honolulu Police Department. The views expressed here are the author’s own.