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This appears legit, but so do many other phishing expeditions.
Tried calling a few times but always busy.
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"A message from COUNTY OF HAWAII
Aloha Kakou,
Starting Monday, September 23, 2019, Hawaii County Civil Defense Agency is switching its messages and alerts service provider to a new vendor, Everbridge.
You will need to register to continue to receive Hawaii County Civil Defense email and phone messages and alerts. To register, please click on the following link;
Civil Defense Alerts signup
If you would like to sign up via a smart phone app: Apple ios Android
Thank you for continuing to subscribe to Civil Defense email, phone messages and alerts.
Hawaii County Civil Defense Agency
808-935-0031
This e-mail has been sent to you by the COUNTY OF HAWAII. To maximize their communication with you, you may be receiving this e-mail in addition to a phone call with the same message. If you no longer wish to receive email notifications from COUNTY OF HAWAII, please click here to unsubscribe.
To view the COUNTY OF HAWAII privacy policy, please click here."
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I think it's for real. Although the text message I received doesn't identify the sender, I also received a similar message by email and voice message which both say County of Hawaii.
For criminals or hackers to cast such a wide net within a few hours it would have to be a pretty sophisticated operation. And the County of Hawaii would have the world's worst security measures in place if all of their info was so readily accessible.
"I'm at that stage in life where I stay out of discussions. Even if you say 1+1=5, you're right - have fun." - Keanu Reeves
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Unless it’s an email you’re expecting, don’t click on any links. It’s very sloppy business practice to force people to click email links.
Look up the the Hawaii CD number, call and verify.
Puna: Our roosters crow first
Puna: Our roosters crow first
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I wonder why they didn't just export the list of phone numbers and emails from the old service. I guess I could assume the best, that they are trying to save us money by starting with a smaller list?
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I received this same message to my cell phone, which seemed suspicious at first as it was very short and not identifiable as to the sender. I also then received a more complete notice via email, which was legitimate and it was easy to sign up with the new company or "vendor". In doing so online, I was able to sign up for alerts to our both of our cell phones, our email, and our home land line, all in one easy process. So, it's for real. We do appreciate these notices, most of the time.
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I signed up online. Within a few seconds of hitting Send I got a text, mobile voice call, landline call, and email all confirming. If it’s not legit they should use these guys, because their notification system works.
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quote:
Originally posted by Gus
I signed up online. Within a few seconds of hitting Send I got a text, mobile voice call, landline call, and email all confirming. If it’s not legit they should use these guys, because their notification system works.
I'm curious to know if the new vendor offers options for receiving alerts? As I just posted on another thread - no idea is so good that Hawaii can't F*** it up.... These alerts are potentially very useful, except that our army of county blockheads at Civil Defense has become far too fond of issuing "no threat" alerts. The whole concept of an alert is to make you aware of a potential threat - I don't
need to know if there is no threat and I don't need to have my phone message box littered with useless messages. The only conceivable reason for their sending these no threat alerts is to reduce the number of calls they get from the 0.1% of panic-prone residents that occupy this island (who might be much happier living in a much less geologically dynamic environment...). And so the alert system has been diverted from its intended purpose to a tool of convenience for Civil Defense. Seems that's how government works in Hawaii.
EOR (end of rant...)
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Thanks for all the replies.
Just being paranoid, I guess.
Cheers,
Kirt