Thieves blackmail elderly victim for money in malware scam

HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) – Three recent crimes are highlighted in this week’s crime roundup with HPD Sgt. Chris Kim.

Case 1

Police are searching for suspects in an attack on an employee at the Ewa Beach Safeway on Keaunui Drive. Video of the incident showed a woman and two male suspects entering the store just before 10:40 p.m. on September 15 and attacking the employee.

They fled in an unknown direction.

Case 2

A burglary was reported at St. Theresa Church on North School Street. On Sept. 8 around 10:20 p.m., police said a male suspect took items from the property and then fled on a bicycle.

Case 3

The third case involved a sophisticated scam in which an elderly victim received a pop-up window on his computer on August 29th. It appeared to be from Microsoft and claimed the computer was infected with malware. Police said the victim called the phone number and a woman told him to take out cash and put it in a box.

The woman then claimed a courier would collect the money and give her a passcode. Later that day, the suspect walked to the victim’s house on Kakiwa Place, entered the passcode and took the box filled with cash.

The next day the same incident occurred and a male suspect came and took the cash. Both suspects were captured on nearby surveillance video.

According to CrimeStoppers, older people are the main targets of these types of scams because they often find it difficult to decipher such alerts on digital platforms.

“Please contact your kupuna and warn them that things like this are happening,” Sgt. Kim said.

Anyone with information about any of the cases is urged to call CrimeStoppers at 955-8300 or submit tips anonymously online here or through the P3 Tips mobile app.

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