First Hawaiian Bank: Hawaii/Guam

(Honolulu, Hawaii November 19, 2007)- First Hawaiian Bank today shut down a phishing site targeting its customers. A fake email, titled “First Hawaiian Bank Regular Account Maintenance,” was sent to customers asking them to verify their account information by clicking on a link that led them to the phishing site.

First Hawaiian, which continuously monitors for this type of fraudulent activity 24/7, immediately identified the phishing site and disabled it to prevent its customers from being subjected to identity theft.

First Hawaiian Bank does not request account information or do regular account maintenance by email or over the phone. The bank is reminding people who think that they have received a suspicious email to contact their banker, the nearest branch or call First Hawaiian Bank's 24-hour Customer Service Center at 844-4444. They can also go to the bank's website to learn more about how they can protect themselves at www.fhb.com/about-security.htm.

Fraudulent emails are sent out by individuals interested in tricking people into volunteering their personal financial information so that they can steal money or a person's identity. The word “phishing” describes a computer scam using fake web sites and email to “fish” for valuable confidential personal information.

First Hawaiian Bank ($12.5 billion assets) was founded in 1858 and is Hawaii's oldest and largest bank. It has 58 branches in Hawaii, three on Guam and two in Saipan. It is a subsidiary of BancWest Corporation (www.bancwestcorp.com), a financial holding company with assets of $71.7 billion.

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