DCCA officials say they have received credible information that emails and at least one phone call were made to real estate licensees asking for personal information.
However, the Real Estate Branch says that its employees do not request personal information, such as driver’s license numbers and Social Security numbers, by phone or over the Internet.
Phishing scams involve the use of emails that appear to be from a legitimate entity. Scammers will often use website addresses with names that are very similar to the web addresses of well-known organizations.
In the email involving DCCA, the sender used an email address that had a "hawaii-gov.us" suffix.
If you have been contacted by someone claiming to be from the Real Estate Branch and requesting personal information, please contact the Real Estate Branch by email at hirec@dcca.hawaii.gov or by telephone at 586-2643.
More information about identity theft can be found at DCCA’s website at: http://hawaii.gov/dcca/id_theft_info
See the original article at: KHON2 Developing Stories
