(BIVN) – The State of Hawaiʻi issued a news release on Thursday, warning that scammers are calling residents, pretending to be FBI agents, seeking cryptocurrency payments for “unpaid fines”.

From the Department of the Attorney General:

Scammers are calling Hawaiʻi residents pretending to be Federal Bureau of Investigations (“FBI”) agents. The callers are lying and telling potential victims that they owe unpaid fines and are going to be arrested unless they immediately make a payment in Bitcoin or other cryptocurrency, or using other methods.

The scammers are “spoofing” a Hawaiʻi Department of the Attorney General phone number — (808) 586-1282 — in an apparent attempt to lend fraudulent authenticity to their scam. “Spoofing” makes false information appear on a phone’s caller ID — usually a fake local number or, as in this case, a local government law enforcement agency. The scammers use “scam scripts” to try to steal money or valuable personal information.

“Law enforcement agencies, including the Department of the Attorney General and the FBI, will never — and I repeat, never — call Hawaiʻi residents on the phone demanding them to transmit money, whether in the form of cryptocurrency, an anonymous payment card, a wire transfer, or any other means, in order to avoid imminent arrest,” says Hawaiʻi Attorney General Anne Lopez. “These people are criminal scammers. Immediately hang up the phone, do not call them back, and under no circumstances reveal personal information or send them money.”

The Department of the Attorney General is coordinating with the FBI to protect Hawaiʻi residents. If you or someone you know has been the victim of these phone scammers, contact the Department of the Attorney General’s Investigations Division at (808) 586-1240.