"I spotted this right off," said Henely, a retired Realtor who lives in Waikiki. "It was like they were asking me for everything they needed to go right to an ATM and wipe me out."

Not all older Hawai'i residents are as wary, however. Identification theft is near the top of the list of scams that befall Hawai'i's senior citizens, followed by phony donation schemes and fraudulent sweepstakes operations, says the Better Business Bureau of Hawai'i.

Now, the bureau has launched a Senior Scam Hotline to help protect seniors from being victimized by fraudulent offers and other scams. Seniors and people who care about them may call the hot line and find out if an offer is legitimate.

"The Senior Scam Hotline is there to help kupuna in our community sift through the piles of suspicious offers they get," said Anne Deschene, president and CEO of BBB Hawaii.

Scam operators prey specifically upon senior citizens for a variety of reasons, Deschene said.

"They know many of them are isolated, they have made their own decisions their whole life and often don't check with others" before responding to a solicitation, Deschene said.

Pat Sasaki, executive director of the state's Executive Office on Aging, said it is difficult to say exactly how many Hawai'i seniors fall victim to scams each year.

"We're hoping the new scam hot line will make it easier for our senior citizens to call in and talk to someone their own age," Sasaki said.