If your business sells to or works for the State of Hawaii, be careful with the next email that asks you for money. The state's Department of Accounting and General Services says scammers are posing as state agencies and contacting vendors for payments and sensitive information (via Hawaii DAGS).
The warning, issued Oct. 20, came after the State Procurement Office got reports from vendors who'd been contacted by people falsely claiming to represent state agencies. "In some instances, fraudulent emails requested a $400 deposit and directed recipients to complete a DAGS/Hawaiʻi State Archives form that appeared to be an official state document," said Keith Regan, the acting lieutenant governor and DAGS director.
The procurement office has also received reports of emails impersonating the Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism and the Department of Budget and Finance. Hawaii News Now reported the warning the next day; neither the state nor the station said how many vendors were contacted or whether anyone lost money.
State officials stressed that a scam like this doesn't mean the government's own systems were hacked. "These scams are designed to exploit the trust that businesses and the public place in government agencies," said Vince Hoang, the state's chief information security officer. "Even when government systems have not been compromised, criminals can use an agency's identity to carry out fraudulent activity."
The state's advice is basic but worth following to the letter: verify any unexpected payment request by calling the agency at a number you look up yourself, not one in the email; check sender addresses closely, since scammers copy names and logos; don't open surprise attachments or type business or financial details into a form you can't verify; and report suspicious messages to the agency being impersonated. The state says most outgoing executive-branch email now comes from the hawaii.gov domain.
"We encourage businesses to contact our office directly if they receive an unfamiliar request or have questions about a procurement-related communication," said Bonnie Kahakui, the state's chief procurement officer. The State Procurement Office can be reached at 808-586-0554.
Government-impersonation schemes aimed at vendors aren't unique to Hawaii. The federal General Services Administration's Office of Inspector General has warned about fake government requests for quotes, where scammers send a phony purchase order from a look-alike email domain, have goods shipped to a warehouse or storage unit on "Net 30" terms, and disappear before the invoice bounces.
Why it matters for Contractors
Small contractors who bid public work are prime targets, because a message about a bid, a registration form or a deposit looks like normal paperwork. Treat any request for a deposit as suspect until you've confirmed it. Before you pay anything or send W-9s, banking info or license numbers, call the agency or the procurement office directly. Most executive-branch state email now comes from hawaii.gov, so an address that doesn't is worth a hard second look. Treat a rush or a strange delivery address as a stop sign. If something feels off, forward it to the agency it claims to come from.