Big Islanders have been receiving calls from scammers claiming the call is urgent and the victim’s extended vehicle warranty is about to expire.
Most, if not all, of the calls have come from the 808 area code, which is Hawaii. Residents reported receiving multiple calls Tuesday, although the scam calls apparently began last week.
“I don’t have a car, but I listened all the way through so I could press the option for ‘do not call,’” said one individual who received at least one of the calls.
Police Capt. Kenneth Quiocho, the Puna patrol commander, said police haven’t received any public complaints, but he “was the target of several of those calls, starting probably from Wednesday of last week.”
Quiocho said that on Tuesday he got “quite a few more” of the calls than he did last week.
“I was getting, like, one a day. Today I got four or five calls, and all from Papaikou (and) Hilo numbers that evidently are being used by this person that’s scamming,” Quiocho noted. “But when they started telling me about a warranty, I know I didn’t have one, so I just hung up the phone.”