The Democratic Party of Hawaii is advising residents to be aware of what the party says could be a phone scam in which calls are made asking for political donations under false pretenses.

A senior citizen told the party that a person claiming to be associated with the Democrats called recently and “falsely stated that Senator Dan Akaka would be running again in the upcoming election, and asked for a donation for this effort.”

Chuck Freedman, communications director for the local Democratic Party, says that anyone who is contacted asking for a political contribution “which is questionable in any way should call the campaign office of the candidate or the party headquarters of the candidate before considering helping the particular campaign.”

Official photo of U.S. Sen. Dan Akaka.