Maui police warn of county‑agenda phishing scam demanding payment by wire, gift cards, crypto
Maui police issued an alert that scammers are using public county board agenda information to contact residents and falsely claim outstanding fees or fines, then pressure victims for immediate payment by wire transfer, gift card, crypto or payment apps. Officials stressed that the county does not request payments via those methods and urged residents to verify requests before sharing personal or financial data.
Maui Police Department released a public warning after scammers began exploiting publicly posted county board agenda items to target residents with fraudulent fee and fine demands. According to the alert, scammers contact individuals by phone, text or email, reference county agenda topics to appear legitimate, and then insist on immediate payment through nonstandard channels such as wire transfers, gift cards, cryptocurrency or peer‑to‑peer payment apps. The county emphasized that official fee and fine collections are not conducted via these payment methods and urged residents to independently verify any communication by contacting county offices directly through listed phone numbers or official websites. Law enforcement advised that victims should preserve communications, avoid providing bank or identity information, and report incidents to local police and consumer protection authorities. The notice reinforces broader trends of targeted phishing and social‑engineering scams that leverage public records to increase credibility, and officials called for vigilance especially among older residents and those unfamiliar with digital payment modalities.
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