Hawaii Identity Theft Laws: Three Degrees, Felony Classes, and Reporting

Hawaii is unusual among states in tying its identity theft penalty directly to what the thief intended to do with the stolen information, rather than to a dollar value. The law splits into three degrees, from a Class A felony down to a Class C felony, based on the severity of the underlying crime the personal information was used to facilitate. This article covers Hawaii's three-degree structure, general restitution rights, and how the federal identity theft framework applies to Hawaii residents.

This page addresses Hawaii law specifically. For the federal reporting process, the FTC's free recovery tool, and the credit-freeze and fraud-alert rights available nationwide, see our identity theft laws hub and our guide to how to report identity theft.

Hawaii's Three-Degree Identity Theft Structure

Hawaii's identity theft statute, Haw. Rev. Stat. §§ 708-839.6 through 708-839.8, commits the same basic conduct to three different degrees depending on what crime the thief intended to facilitate. All three degrees share the same conduct element: transmitting another person's personal information, whether orally, in writing, or electronically, with intent to facilitate a specific underlying offense.

Identity theft in the first degree, a Class A felony under § 708-839.6, applies when the information is transmitted with intent to facilitate either a serious felony, meaning murder, a Class A felony, kidnapping, unlawful imprisonment, extortion, a firearms offense, criminal property damage, escape, a sexual offense, or an offense under chapter 842, or first-degree theft from the person whose information was misused or from any other person or entity.

Identity theft in the second degree, a Class B felony under § 708-839.7, involves the same transmission conduct, but with intent to commit second-degree theft rather than a serious felony or first-degree theft. A case note attached to this second-degree statute confirms that transmitting information about a fictitious person does not satisfy the conduct element: where a defendant did not transmit the personal information of an actual person, the defendant did not satisfy the conduct element and could not be convicted of identity theft in the second degree. Identity theft in the third degree, a Class C felony under § 708-839.8, involves the same conduct with intent to commit third- or fourth-degree theft. A Hawaii court has clarified that third-degree identity theft does not require the thief to actually impersonate the victim, only that they transmitted the victim's real information with the required intent to facilitate a theft.

Restitution for Identity Theft Victims

Hawaii does not have an identity-theft-specific restitution statute, but its general criminal restitution law, Haw. Rev. Stat. § 706-646, applies to any identity theft conviction. The statute requires courts to order a defendant to compensate victims for "reasonable and verified losses" when requested, covering property replacement or repair, medical and mental-health expenses, funeral and burial costs, and lost earnings including paid leave. The statute defines "victim" broadly, including surviving relatives and government entities seeking reimbursement, and bars a court from using a defendant's inability to pay to reduce the restitution amount itself, though it can affect the timing and manner of payment. The statute also coordinates with Hawaii's crime-victim-compensation program to prevent a victim from being paid twice for the same loss.

Security Freeze for Minors: Unresolved

Hawaii's specific security-freeze statute for minors or protected consumers could not be located in current research, despite checking Hawaii's Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs, Office of Consumer Protection (DCCA/OCP) directly. That office's own site search for "security freeze" returned no matching results, and its general identity theft page redirects readers to federal IdentityTheft.gov and FTC resources without citing any Hawaii-specific freeze statute or age threshold. This is a real gap in what state resources say, not a confirmed absence of a Hawaii statute; Hawaii's credit-reporting statutes were not exhaustively searched. Regardless of whether Hawaii has its own provision, every Hawaii family already has the federal minors' and protected-consumers' freeze right under 15 U.S.C. § 1681c-1(j), added in 2018, which guarantees a free freeze for anyone under 16 nationwide.

Reporting Identity Theft in Hawaii

Unlike most states, consumer protection in Hawaii sits under the Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs rather than the Attorney General. The DCCA's Office of Consumer Protection identity theft page functions largely as a gateway to federal resources: it directs residents to IdentityTheft.gov as "the federal government's one-stop resource to help you report and recover from identity theft," without describing a dedicated Hawaii state hotline, victim-assistance program, or Hawaii-specific statute for credit freezes. DCCA's general Consumer Resource Center complaint line, for consumer issues broadly rather than identity theft specifically, is 1-844-808-DCCA (3222).

Federal Protections That Apply in Hawaii

Because Hawaii's own state resources point residents toward the federal system for most of the practical reporting and recovery process, the federal identity theft framework carries even more weight for Hawaii residents than in some other states. Under FCRA section 605B (15 U.S.C. § 1681c-2), a victim who submits an identity theft report can have a credit reporting agency block fraudulent information from their credit file. Under 15 U.S.C. § 1681c-1, every consumer nationwide has had the right to a free security freeze and to one-year or seven-year extended fraud alerts since a 2018 federal law made freezes free in every state. IdentityTheft.gov provides a free FTC Identity Theft Report, a personalized recovery plan, and pre-filled dispute letters. For the full mechanics of freezes, fraud alerts, and the FTC reporting process, see our how to report identity theft and credit freeze vs. fraud alert guides.

Information last verified on 2026-08-13, drawn directly from the Hawaii Revised Statutes and the Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs. This article has not yet been reviewed by a licensed lawyer and is general legal information, not legal advice for your specific situation.

Related Resources

• Identity Theft Laws: Federal Rules and State Penalties
• How to Report Identity Theft
• Credit Freeze vs. Fraud Alert

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Last updated: 2026-08-13.