As we welcome the new year, SMP Hawaii reminds our community to stay vigilant and informed. Hawaiʻi proudly leads the nation in life expectancy, allowing our kūpuna to live long, meaningful lives surrounded by family, culture, and tradition. Unfortunately, this also gives scammers more time and opportunity to target them.
Many older adults in Hawaiʻi live alone or experience social isolation. Combined with the state’s high cost of living and the financial pressures often felt in multi-generational households, the impact of scams can be especially devastating—not just for kūpuna, but for entire ‘ohana.
The FBI has issued a warning about a troubling new scam that specifically targets people who have already been victims of fraud. According to the FBI, scammers are now creating fake websites that closely resemble official government pages, tricking victims into thinking they are reporting a crime—while actually stealing their personal and financial information.
These fraudulent websites often imitate the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3), making them difficult to distinguish from legitimate sources.
You can read more about this warning directly from the FBI here:
👉 https://www.mlive.com/news/2025/09/fbi-warns-of-disturbing-new-scam-that-targets-people-whve-already-been-scammed.html
Education is one of the strongest tools we have to prevent scams. Please share these safety tips with your family, friends, and especially our kūpuna:
If you believe you may have interacted with a fake website, report it immediately at
www.ic3.gov
or contact your local FBI Field Office.
Protecting our kūpuna is a shared kuleana. By staying informed, talking openly about scams, and helping loved ones navigate the digital world safely, we strengthen our entire community.
Let’s begin 2026 with hope, awareness, and aloha—keeping our kūpuna and ‘ohana
scam-free through education and vigilance.
