Hawaii's first female reporter loses life savings to a scam, warns others

Añadido: 2026-05-31

[00:00:00]Linda Coble is the last person you'd expect to be fooled by scammers. She made history as Hawaii's first female TV anchor in 1971 and built a successful career on sharing news and questioning everything. Now 79, she's opening up about a painful experience that began in March when she got a call from a man who claimed to be Mike Diamond from US Customs.

[00:00:22]>> I had won the sweepstakes at Publishers Clearing House, 5 million 500,000 dollars.

[00:00:31]And before they send me the check, I had all these steps to go through. How do you think I would feel? Well, I kind of dig it and I kind of believe it.

[00:00:41]>> [laughter] >> Me key.

[00:00:45]>> Over several weeks, Mike walked her through everything.

[00:00:48]>> I'm really trying to get to you to provide information.

[00:00:51]>> Directing her to send checks and money orders to cover taxes and fees for the cash prize and to keep everything a secret to not ruin the surprise.

[00:00:59]>> How did he get in there and and win you over?

[00:01:02]>> Consistency, friendship. He was very friendly on the phone. Um would call pretty much daily.

[00:01:10]>> The scam was so elaborate it involved multiple calls with a woman who called herself Gail O'Brien who vouched for Mike's character.

[00:01:17]>> Mike's been trying to get a hold of you and he said it's really important.

[00:01:21]>> Coble also received letters and emails from people claiming to be Mike's colleagues from the IRS and the US Marshals Office. Coble says she didn't feel the need to verify their identities or claims.

[00:01:32]>> I trusted them. They did a wonderful job of building that kind of familial kind of relationship through all the steps of my spending my money in order to win my prize that would be unveiled at the Bank of Hawaii.

[00:01:48]>> The scammers even mailed her what looks like a cashier's check for 5.5 million dollars to give the illusion it was the real thing.

[00:01:55]>> I was overwhelmed with kindness, support, encouragement, excitement constantly from the scammers, and I didn't realize that I had already made such a mistake, and I was embarrassed to tell anybody.

[00:02:13]>> Only until she ran out of money and was asked to send another 20 grand to ensure her supposed winnings, did she finally realize she was being scammed.

[00:02:22]>> At that point, how much had you already sent?

[00:02:26]>> About 60,000.

[00:02:28]And I had to take my IRA out of my account and put it in the bank. I had to cancel my Prudential and put all that money in the bank. Money I had saved and earned, and >> [sighs] >> now it's gone. I should have called my friends, my family. I should have called the bank.

[00:02:52]>> We called the number Kobel used in her multiple conversations with Mike Diamond, but there was no answer or voice recording.

[00:03:01]>> I'm proud to have the guts to share.

[00:03:06]>> [laughter] >> It's important that if I made a I want to share it, so you don't.

[00:03:13]>> [laughter]