Hawaiʻi Police Department
Criminal Investigations Section, Area II
Lieutenant Gerald Wike
Phone: 326-4646, Ext. 266
Media Release
Hawaiʻi Island police are warning the public about a scam from a bogus company posing as a subscription service for various publications.
A Kealakekua man received a “NOTICE OF RENEWAL/NEW ORDER” invoice in the mail requesting money for a subscription to a Honolulu daily newspaper. A few days later, he received a similar invoice for a Honolulu weekly newspaper. Both invoices displayed the same phone number, mailing address and website address, all of which police have linked to a known national scam that uses various company names.
Police advise the public to check directly with a newspaper or magazine publisher to obtain accurate procedures for making subscription payments and not to rely on mailed or emailed third party notices that may be bogus.
The public also may use a website search engine to input suspicious phone numbers or mailing addresses. The search results should indicate whether the numbers or addresses are associated with a scam.
