The Maui News

A new telephone scam circulating involves people receiving calls from apparent scammers impersonating the Chinese Consulate and speaking Mandarin, the state Office of Consumer Protection warned Tuesday.

These calls have been received around the country, including in Hawaii. Callers demand payment in exchange for a package or request information to prevent punishment from the consulate.

The caller then asks for bank or credit card information and instructs the people to transfer money to them.

“It’s truly outrageous that these scammers would try to prey on the vulnerabilities of recent immigrants,” said Stephen Levins, executive director of the Office of Consumer Protection.

He emphasized that anyone receiving this call should hang up and not provide any information.

According to the Federal Trade Commission, the scammers appear to be calling from outside the U.S. and are hoping to target ethnic Chinese, including recent immigrants.

The number appearing on caller ID may show to be coming from a real Chinese Consulate number — but this is a case of spoofing or manipulating the caller ID to masquerade as representatives of the consulate.

The Office of Consumer Protection offers consumers the following tips:

• When receiving a call or message from a potential scammer, hang up or delete it.

• Never give out personal information, such as Social Security numbers, to a stranger on the phone.

• Never wire money through Western Union, MoneyGram, or any other wire service to unknown people.

• Never purchase gift or money cards for the purpose of providing the gift card numbers to someone else.

When receiving a potential scam call, immediately contact the Office of Consumer Protection (243-4648 for Wailuku office by phone or the website cca.hawaii.gov/blog/office-of-consumer-protection/) or the Federal Trade Commission.

Hawaii residents also may visit the Los Angeles People Republic of China Consulate website at losangeles.china-consulate.org/chn/lsfw/txyj/fdxzp/.