Archived Fraud Alerts

Recently, two major hotel chains, Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc. and Hilton Hotels have reported credit and debit card breaches involving transactions which occurred at some of their properties across the country. If you have transacted using your credit or debit card at any of these hotel properties, we encourage you to closely monitor your accounts and contact the credit union if anything suspicious appears on your account.

Visit our Security Tips page to learn more about protecting your finances. For more breach information, visit the Hilton Hotels and Starwood Hotels websites.

It has been brought to our attention that an individual has received a HawaiiUSA Federal Credit Union Cashier's Check as part of a WeCheck secret shopper scam. The individual was asked to purchase some items and mail it back to the company.  If you receive a HawaiiUSA Cashier's Check please use caution. Do not negotiate the check or send any money before verifying its authenticity. If you have any questions, please contact HawaiiUSA Federal Credit Union's Member Service Center at (808) 534.4300.

To learn more about how you can avoid fraud, visit our security resource: Cashier's Checks Fraud and How to Avoid It

In any case, if you receive a HawaiiUSA cashier's check, verify its authenticity before negotiating it or sending any money. Call HawaiiUSA's Member Service Center at (808) 534.4300 or email contactus@hawaiiusafcu.com.

Due to the numerous card disputes coming from Virginia, Maryland, and New Jersey, we will be placing a card block on these states for 30 days.  If you are traveling to these states within this time frame, please call our Member Service Center at (808) 534.4300. 

It has been brought to our attention that selected individuals have received a HawaiiUSA Federal Credit Union Cashier's Check. If you receive a HawaiiUSA Cashier's Check please use caution. Do not negotiate the check or send any money before verifying its authenticity. If you have any questions, please contact HawaiiUSA Federal Credit Union's Member Service Center at (808) 534.4300.

To learn more about how you can avoid fraud, visit our security resource: Cashier's Checks Fraud and How to Avoid It

Reported Fradulent Activities
Vehicle Advertising "Wrap" Ad: Scam involves a “paid to drive” concept where a marketing business seeks victims to wrap their vehicle with an advertisement decal and get paid weekly to drive around. The company mails you your first payment, a cashier's check to deposit in advance which covers the cost of decal application. Once these funds "clear" your account in a few days, the scammer asks you to transfer money via Western Union or Moneygram to a specific recipient. When the cashier's check is discovered to be fraudulent, any funds deposited to your account are not valid. It may take banks weeks to discover that a cashier’s check is fake. In the meantime, you will have irrevocably wired your funds to the scam artist.

In any case, if you receive a HawaiiUSA cashier's check, verify its authenticity before negotiating it or sending any money. Call HawaiiUSA's Member Service Center at (808) 534.4300 or email contactus@hawaiiusafcu.com.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has released a warning of an email scam known as the Business Email Compromise (BEC). This scam targets businesses working with foreign suppliers or businesses that regularly perform wire transfers. Several scenarios were reported to have involved fraudulent wire transfers as well as the compromise of high level corporate email accounts, resulting in the transfer of funds to fraudulent overseas accounts (many in China and Hong Kong). HawaiiUSA warns business members to be careful when using their email in payment related situations, and to consider adding additional IT security procedures to protect their company. Refer to the FBI Public Service Announcement for more information and suggestions for protection.

In light of the recent announcement of the cyberbreach of over 14 million federal employees records, HawaiiUSA FCU would like its members, who may be affected, to closely monitor its accounts and contact the credit union if there is anything suspicious appears on their account.

It is also good to review your credit report, which can be done at no charge by visiting the website, www.annualcreditreport.com. For more information about data breaches, visit our Security Tips page.

The National Credit Union Administration (NCUA) has received reports of an online phishing scam that uses a website with a logo and a design similar to the agency’s own site in an attempt to convince unwary customers to provide information or send money.

Consumers have received emails from the National Credit Union website, which apparently originates in Australia and claims to offer services in the United States, Europe and the Commonwealth of Independent States. This website is not affiliated in any way with the National Credit Union Administration, a federal agency, and the emails are not from NCUA.

The emails attempt to persuade individuals to provide personal information, such as Social Security numbers, account numbers and login information, or transfer large amounts of money. Consumers should neither provide information to this website nor attempt to conduct any financial transactions through it. NCUA would not request personal or financial information in this manner. Consumers receiving such emails should call NCUA’s Fraud Hotline toll-free at 800-827-9650.

In addition, the NCUA is alerting consumers that texts they receive from an agency telephone line, 703-518-6301, asking for personal information are not coming from NCUA. The NCUA does not request personal or financial information from consumers.

This attempted fraud scam is called “spoofing." The perpetrators are able to mimic a telephone number to generate text messages. The texts may warn of a debit card reaching its limit or use some other trick to persuade individuals to provide personal information or go to a malicious website. Consumers should not click on links in the message, provide information to any websites referenced in the message nor attempt to conduct any financial transactions through those websites. Consumers receiving these texts should contact NCUA’s Consumer Assistance Center Hotline at 800-755-1030.

Please be advised a Secret Shopper Market Research scam has appeared using a counterfeit HawaiiUSA Federal Credit Union Cashiers Check. A letter is included with the counterfeit cashiers check informing the recipient they are part of a team of shoppers. They are to cash the check at their bank and take $350 of it for their commission. They are to use the balance to purchase $2,500 in Green Dot Money cards and email the PIN on the back of the card to an email address in the letter. If you receive a letter like this, do not deposit the check or take action on the letter.

If you have any questions, please contact HawaiiUSA Federal Credit Union’s Member Service Center at (808) 534.4300 or toll-free (800) 379.1300.