Senior Scam Prevention and Fraud Resources in Hawaii
Hawaii seniors reported $55 million in elder fraud losses to the FBI in 2025, with 917 victims aged 60 and older. This page provides Hawaii-specific scam prevention resources, official reporting contacts, and five years of FBI elder fraud data for the state.
Already been scammed? Read our First 24 Hours Emergency Guide for critical steps to take immediately.
I. Overview: Hawaii’s Senior Population and Key Cities
As of 2024, Hawaii has a population of approximately 1.4 million, with approximately 288,000 residents aged 65 and older, representing roughly 19.9% of the state’s population. This high proportion ranks Hawaii among the top U.S. states for senior population share.
In 2025, Hawaii’s elder fraud losses nearly tripled — from $19 million to $55 million (+194%), one of the steepest increases in the nation. Investment scams exploded to $38.7 million (+295%), now accounting for 70% of all losses. Tech support fraud also surged (+169%). Scammers may exploit cultural respect for authority, language diversity, or geographic isolation, making awareness and early reporting essential.
The top three cities where scams are most frequently reported among seniors are:
- Honolulu (approx. 345,000 people)
- Hilo (approx. 45,000 people)
- Kailua (Oahu) (approx. 38,000 people)
II. 2025 Victim Report: How Scammers Targeted Hawaii’s Seniors
In 2025, Hawaii had 917 victims aged 60+ who reported losses totaling $55,385,929 — up 42% in victims and 194% in losses compared to 2024 (647 victims / $19M).
Loss by Crime Type
| Crime Type | 2025 Loss | 2024 Loss | Change |
| Investment | $38,736,570 | $9,809,411 | +295% |
| Tech Support | $4,779,321 | $1,779,696 | +169% |
| Romance | $2,963,258 | $2,248,407 | +32% |
| Lottery/Sweepstakes | $634,594 | $734,980 | -14% |
| Extortion | $2,500 | $11,199 | -78% |
| Government Impersonation | $1,666,964 | $483,660 | +245% |
Elder Fraud Loss Trajectory — Hawaii
5-Year Elder Fraud Trend — Hawaii (2021—2025)
| Year | Victims (60+) | Total Loss | YoY Change | Nat’l Rank |
| 2021 | 408 | $10,061,508 | — | #31 |
| 2022 | 399 | $16,334,492 | +62% | #35 |
| 2023 | 454 | $27,965,497 | +71% | #28 |
| 2024 | 647 | $18,851,052 | -33% | #40 |
| 2025 | 917 | $55,385,929 | +194% | #32 |
| 5-Year Total | 2,825 | $128,598,478 | +450% (2021—2025) | — |
Source: FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) Annual Reports, 2021—2025. Covers victims aged 60 and older. National rank is by total dollar loss among 52 states/territories. National totals: $1.7B (2021), $3.1B (2022), $3.4B (2023), $4.9B (2024), $7.7B (2025) — $20.8 billion stolen from American seniors over five years.
Top Crime Types Targeting Hawaii Seniors (2025 vs. 5-Year)
| Crime Type | 2025 Victims | 2025 Loss | 5-Year Total | Growth (2021—25) |
| Investment | 121 | $38,736,570 | $81,556,814 | +1,020% |
| Tech Support | 120 | $4,779,321 | $11,985,318 | +634% |
| Romance | 64 | $2,963,258 | $9,538,503 | +46% |
| BEC | 57 | $2,804,065 | $7,526,723 | +25% |
| Gov. Impersonation | 89 | $1,666,964 | $3,024,278 | +3,032% |
| Lottery/Sweepstakes | 23 | $634,594 | $2,573,107 | +652% |
Top 6 crime types by 2025 losses. Growth calculated from 2021 to 2025. For national crime type trends, see our Crime Type Migration Analysis.
What the data reveals: Hawaii’s elder fraud losses nearly tripled in 2025 — from $19 million to $55 million (+194%), with 917 seniors victimized. Investment scams alone grew from $9.8 million to $38.7 million (+295%), now representing 70% of all Hawaii senior fraud losses. Tech support fraud surged 169%, and government impersonation losses climbed 245%, from about $484,000 to $1.7 million. Lottery and sweepstakes losses were among the few categories that fell, easing 14%. Statewide, that comes to roughly one senior victim for every 1,577 Hawaii residents.
National context: Hawaii ranks #32 in total losses but #19 in per-capita victim rate (63.41 per 100,000), above the national midpoint. The 194% year-over-year loss increase is more than three times the national average of 57% — the steepest growth rate in the Pacific region. Investment scams accounting for 70% of losses is one of the highest single-category concentrations of any state, suggesting a targeted campaign against Hawaii’s seniors. Hawaii’s island geography and tight-knit communities can be both a vulnerability (isolation) and a strength (word-of-mouth awareness spreads fast).
For the full national picture, including how Hawaii compares to every other state, visit our national hub page with interactive data and rankings.
III. Emergency and Official Contacts
Local Police Departments – Elder Fraud and Financial Crimes
1. Honolulu Police Department – Financial Crimes Detail
- Phone: (808) 529-3111 (non-emergency)
- Website: www.honolulupd.org
- Ask for the Financial Crimes or Elder Abuse unit to report scams.
2. Hawaii County Police Department (Hilo Area)
- Phone: (808) 935-3311 (non-emergency)
- Website: www.hawaiipolice.gov
- Serves Hilo and surrounding Big Island communities.
3. Kailua (Oahu) Police – District 4 (Windward Oahu)
- Phone: (808) 723-8838 (non-emergency)
- Website: www.honolulupd.org/district-4
- Serves Kailua, Kaneohe, and Windward Coast areas.
FBI and Federal Scam Reporting
FBI Honolulu Field Office
- Phone: (808) 566-4300
- Website: www.fbi.gov/contact-us/field-offices/honolulu
Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3)
- Website: www.ic3.gov
- Report online scams, phishing, fraud, tech support hoaxes, and digital financial crimes.
Hawaii Consumer Protection Agencies (DCCA Office of Consumer Protection + AG)
Hawaii Office of Consumer Protection (DCCA) – Primary Consumer Complaint Intake
- Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs (DCCA), Office of Consumer Protection
- Website: cca.hawaii.gov/ocp
- Hawaii’s primary intake agency for consumer scam complaints, identity theft reports, and business-fraud complaints. Multiple island offices (Oahu, Maui, Hilo, Kona) — see website for the right office and direct phone number.
Hawaii Department of the Attorney General – Consumer Protection Unit
- Consumer Protection Hotline: (808) 586-2630
- Website: ag.hawaii.gov
- Offers scam alerts, consumer complaint forms, and elder fraud prevention information.
Statewide Elder Services and Medicare Fraud Support
Hawaii Adult Protective Services (APS)
- To report elder abuse, neglect, or financial exploitation:
Statewide APS Intake: (808) 832-5115 - Website: humanservices.hawaii.gov
- Oversees investigations into abuse and exploitation of vulnerable adults.
Hawaii Senior Medicare Patrol (SMP)
- Phone: (800) 296-9422
- Website: hawaiiSMP.org
- Helps detect and report Medicare fraud, billing errors, and identity theft.
Hawaii Executive Office on Aging (EOA)
- Info Line: (808) 586-0100
- Website: health.hawaii.gov/eoa
- Provides elder rights education, fraud prevention, legal assistance, and caregiver resources.
Island-Wise Safety for Kupuna
- Hawaii’s kupuna lose millions annually to preventable scams. Most fraud begins with phone calls, emails, or fake websites.
- These trusted contacts are your line of defense. If something doesn’t feel right, slow down, verify, and ask for help.
- Visit our Education Center to explore common scams, warning signs, and safe reporting steps.
- You are not alone. Awareness is the first step to protection.
Recent Hawaii scam news
Recent news coverage of scams affecting Hawaii seniors, updated from our alerts desk. Each item links to the original outlet; victims and defendants are kept anonymous.
Online scams stole $55M from Hawaii seniors last year
Hawaii seniors over 60 lost more than $55 million to online scams in 2025, a 65 percent jump, the FBI reports.
Read at Honolulu Star-Advertiser →Elderly woman almost falls victim to scam as Hawaii fraud losses increase
A 93-year-old Hawaii woman nearly lost $25,000 to a tech-support scam as state fraud losses climb.
Read at Hawaii News Now →The 'phantom hacker' scam: how a months-long con convinces victims to hand cash or gold to a courier
Federal prosecutors describe a growing 'phantom hacker' scheme in which a caller falsely claims a victim's bank or investment account has been compromised, then, days or weeks later, someone posing as a government official tells the victim their money needs to be moved to a 'safe' government account to protect it. After building trust over an extended period, the scammers convince victims to withdraw cash or buy gold and hand it to someone who arrives in person posing as a government agent, sometimes claiming to be a U.S. Attorney or other official. In one related Arizona case, a victim transferred more than $400,000 in assets before realizing it was a scam. No real government agency or bank will ever ask you to withdraw money, buy gold, or hand valuables to a courier to 'protect' them, so if you get a call like this, slow down, hang up, and verify by contacting the agency or bank directly using a number you look up yourself.
Read at U.S. Attorney's Office, District of Arizona →House committee report calls for an 'all-of-ecosystem' approach to fighting scams, including elder fraud
A U.S. House Financial Services Committee report is calling for a coordinated national strategy against fraud and scams, arguing that stopping them requires cooperation across banks, technology platforms, telecommunications carriers, and law enforcement, not just the moment a payment happens. The report cites FTC data showing more than 3 million fraud reports and $15.9 billion in reported losses in 2025, and specifically flags elder exploitation among the scam types it wants better addressed alongside impostor schemes, phishing, and crypto fraud. It recommends stronger consumer education, deliberate friction to slow suspicious transactions, more cross-industry data sharing, and wider use of AI-powered fraud-detection tools, and it launched a new public resource site explaining common scam red flags in plain language. The American Bankers Association welcomed the report's call for a coordinated approach that brings platforms, carriers, and financial institutions into the effort together.
Read at JD Supra →Senate Aging Committee presses nine major AI companies for safeguards protecting older users
The Senate Special Committee on Aging sent letters to nine major AI companies asking what safeguards their AI chatbot 'companion' products have for older adults, people with disabilities, and people in crisis, including how the products are tested, how harms are tracked, and whether independent researchers can access data to study the effects on older users. Companies have until August 31, 2026 to respond. The letters follow a bipartisan committee hearing, held by the committee's Republican chairman together with its Democratic ranking member and another Democratic senator, examining how AI has been used in scams against seniors; at that hearing the committee released a new report citing the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center for almost $21 billion in cybercrime losses in 2025, with $893 million tied to AI-enabled scams. The report's recommendations include a centralized federal scam-reporting portal that would automatically route complaints to the right agency, expanded law enforcement training and cryptocurrency-tracing tools, and new protections against unauthorized AI-generated voice and image replicas. The committee framed it directly: protecting older Americans from AI-enabled fraud and expanding their access to helpful AI tools 'are not competing priorities; they are two sides of the same obligation.'
Read at McKnight's Senior Living →Expert: AI voice cloning is making grandparent and impersonation scams more convincing
At a fraud-prevention session, a consumer-protection expert explained how AI is raising the stakes on scams that already target seniors: fraudsters can pull audio from social media to clone a family member's voice for a fake emergency call, and use AI to alter faces and voices on video calls to look and sound legitimate. He said government agencies never initiate contact by phone, so any call claiming to be the IRS, Social Security, or the FBI is a scam, and that any request to pay through a cryptocurrency ATM is always a scammer. Other advice: legitimate tech companies do not send pop-up warnings with a phone number to call, so restart your computer instead of clicking a link or handing over remote access; use unique passwords and multi-factor authentication; and place a security freeze on your credit report. According to FTC data cited at the session, Americans reported losing a record $15.9 billion to fraud and scams in 2025, an all-ages figure that is separate from the FBI's own reporting on losses to adults 60 and older.
Read at HousingWire →IV. Learn More: Hawaii Scam Prevention Guides
Explore Hawaii-specific guides on the most common scams targeting seniors in your state:
- Tech Support Scams in Hawaii — Learn to recognize fake pop-ups, phone calls, and remote access schemes.
- Investment Scams in Hawaii — Protect your retirement savings from fraudulent advisors and crypto scams.
- Romance Scams in Hawaii — Spot the warning signs of fake online relationships designed to steal money.
- Government Impersonation Scams in Hawaii — Know what real government agencies will never ask you to do.
- How to Report Scams in Hawaii — Step-by-step guide to reporting fraud and starting recovery.
For national-level data on each scam type, see our Investment, Tech Support, Romance, and Government Impersonation national guides.
See how Hawaii compares. Curious where Hawaii ranks in the national picture? Stolen Trust, our 2026 special study, ranks every state and territory using five years of FBI data and lays out one practical plan to fix elder fraud.