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Bank of Hawaii Issues Vishing Fraud Warning

Jun 4, 2021 Pacific Business News

Bank of Hawaii on Friday issued an alert of a new scam targeting customers and non-customers alike.

The “vishing,” or voice phishing, scam has involved a caller with a spoofed Bank of Hawaii caller I.D. impersonating a BOH representative. The caller demands the recipient press “1” to speak to another representative or threatens the deactivation of their account. At that point, sensitive information is requested.

One of the numbers identified has been 808-693-1637, although a variety have been used. The bank recommends anyone who receives such a call hang up.

In its alert, BOH reminded its customers that it does not call, email or text message them requesting personal identity information such as their name, social security number, PIN, account numbers and passwords.

If a BOH customer mistakenly provided personal information, they can contact the bank at 1-888-643-3888 and press “0.”

A BOH spokeswoman told Pacific Business news that the scam just came to the bank’s attention and is “not frequent or prevalent at this time, but we wanted to err on the side of caution and let the public know, so they are aware of the specifics of the type of call.”

Other Hawaii banks and utilities have reported similar scams in recent months.