Tagged: ransom Toggle Comment Threads | Keyboard Shortcuts

  • Geebo 8:00 am on September 26, 2022 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: , , ransom, ,   

    Would you fall for this convincing scam? 

    Would you fall for this convincing scam?

    By Greg Collier

    A lot of like to think we’re scam-proof, that it’s impossible for scammers to pull one over on us. For example, I received a robocall the other day that said they were calling from Amazon and there had been a $1499.00 charge on my account. I hung up because I knew it was a scam. But just to be certain, I checked my Amazon account and credit card I use for Amazon purchases. Both had no record of any such transaction. Now, that’s a low-pressure scam if you know what to look for. But what if the pressure was intense and immediate. Would you be able to remain calm?

    We’ve discussed the virtual kidnapping scam, or ransom scam, before. This is when scammers call a victim to tell them that they’ve kidnapped a loved one and demand money. In reality, the scammers don’t actually have your loved one hostage. However, even if you might be familiar with the scam, scammers can make it so convincing that in the heat of the moment, you may question yourself.

    A man in Ohio recently received one of these calls. The number that came up on his phone belonged to his mother from Florida. After he picked up the phone, the man heard a male voice with a female voice screaming in the background. The caller stated he carjacked the man’s mother and would harm her if the man didn’t pay the caller. The way that we’ve phrased it, makes it sound so clinical. However, the language the caller used made it seem real. Here are some quotes from the conversation that the man recorded.

    Caller: “Man, guess what? I’m going to start beating your mom, I’m going to start beating her right now.”

    Caller: “If I see the police, I’m going to k*** myself too, but I’m going to take her (expletive) out.

    Caller: “Bro, I’m going to tell you one more time. She ain’t going to be all right if you don’t hurry the (expletive) up.”

    There were other explicit threats of violence as well that we’re leaving out for the sake of civility.

    The caller was demanding payment through Cash App and PayPal. Luckily, the man had trouble remembering his PayPal password. While he was trying to reset the password, he had his wife call his brother on her phone, since his brother lives near his mother. When he got word that his mother was in no danger, he hung up on the scammer. The man even admitted that he panicked and had no idea what to do, even though he made the correct action.

    Scammers will either find us at our weakest or try to put us in that state of mind. Can any of us say we wouldn’t be panicked if we were in this man’s shoes? This is just one of the many reasons we shouldn’t belittle scam victims. There are so many scams out in the wild that any one of us could fall victim to them if the right circumstances emerge. Instead, we should be thanking scam victims who come forward for making us aware of these scams.

    Again, what the man did in this instance was the right thing to do. If you ever receive a phone call like this, try to use a second form of communication to contact the person the caller has claimed to have kidnapped. Kidnapping for ransom is rare in the United States, but you still want to make sure your loved one is safe. Also, don’t be afraid to call the police, as they can be of great assistance in these matters.

     
  • Geebo 9:00 am on January 19, 2022 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: , Pittsburgh, ransom, ,   

    Kidnapping scam uses your social media against you 

    By Greg Collier

    The Pittsburgh Field Office of the FBI has issued a warning about the virtual kidnapping scam. This scam entails scammers calling people and telling them that they’ve kidnapped a loved one. The scammers may put someone on the phone crying and screaming to make it seem like they actually have taken your loved one hostage. A ransom demand is then made where the scammers will ask for payment through money transfer, gift cards, or cryptocurrency. They ask for these types of payments because they’re mostly untraceable. It’s typically not until after the victim sends the scammers money when they find out their loved one was never in any harm.

    The FBI is now reporting an uptick in this scam in the Pittsburgh area. Recently, 450 people have reported receiving these scam calls. However, the scammers are using a new ploy to try to trick their victims. Scammers are now calling the relatives of people who travel to somewhere near the Mexican border. The perpetrators are combing through social media looking for anyone who has recently shared that they’re planning a trip either to or near Mexico. Then the scammers are calling the relatives of the traveler from Mexico and claiming that they’ve kidnapped the victim’s relative.

    The best way to protect yourself and your family from this scam is to not announce your vacation plans ahead of time on social media. Your first instinct may be to share your vacation pictures as they happen, but this could open you up to a number of scams and dangers, including this one. If you receive a call from Mexico and the caller says they’ve kidnapped a relative of yours, the FBI advises getting as much information you can, including the phone number they called from. It’s then recommended you hang up the call and contact the supposed kidnap victim to make sure they’re ok. Then call your local police or the FBI to file a report.

     
  • Geebo 9:00 am on November 18, 2021 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: , , ransom, ,   

    Florida father falls victim to kidnapping scam 

    By Greg Collier

    Even after all this time, we still get comments from readers who claim that they would never fall for any of the scams we’ve discussed. While that may be true, we still maintain that anyone can fall victim to a scam if the circumstances are right. For every victim that falls for a scam, there are hundreds, if not thousands, of attempts by scammers that fail. While the odds may be in your favor that you won’t fall for a scam, they’re never at zero, as one man from Florida recently found out.

    The man from the Tampa Bay area was busy working as a DJ at a local wedding when he received two phone calls. One was from his 17-year-old daughter and the other was from Mexico. He couldn’t answer the calls at the time since he was working. However, he received a second call from Mexico and answered it since he had family that were vacationing there.

    The caller claimed that he got into a fender bender with the man’s daughter and took her hostage, since the caller claimed to be carrying a substantial amount of drugs. The caller even put what sounded like a young woman crying on the phone. Then the caller demanded the man leave the wedding and wire him $1500 to get his daughter back. The man went to a local supermarket, where he wired money to the scammer. At that point, the call ended. The man called his wife, and she was able to verify that their daughter was safe and had not been kidnapped. The man even stated to local media that this was a perfect storm of circumstances that allowed him to fall victim to the scam.

    This scam is known as the virtual kidnapping scam and according to local police, this scam finds victims around 5-10 times a week in the Tampa area. The FBI has even said that the virtual kidnapping scam is the scam with the third-highest number of victims nationwide.

    As we often tell our readers, actual kidnappings for ransom in the United States are actually quite rare. If you are ever unfortunate enough to receive a one of these calls, try to keep calm. We know that’s easier said than done. Even if the caller is keeping you on the call, find a way to contact the person that the callers are claiming to have kidnapped, or someone who can verify their whereabouts. You should also contact your local police department.

     
  • Geebo 9:00 am on January 11, 2021 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: New Mexico, ransom, ,   

    Virtual kidnapping scam has a new twist 

    Virtual kidnapping scam has a new twist

    The virtual kidnapping scam is one of the more disturbing scams going today. The scam works with a scammer calling someone and telling them that they’re holding one of their loved ones hostage. They often have someone who is supposed to be your loved one screaming in the background. The victim will be threatened with harm coming to their loved one if the victim hangs up the phone. The scammers will often claim to be with a criminal cartel. They’ll then demand payment in some untraceable way. Meanwhile, your loved one is actually safe and has no idea they’re being used in a scam.

    Scammers are always looking to improve on scams like this to put more pressure on the victim to pay up. One such scammer recently did that to a family in New Mexico. The family received a phone call that their daughter had been in a car accident. Now, this sounds like the start of a grandparent scam where the scammer will ask for money to bail the daughter out of jail or something similar. Instead, this scammer told the family they were holding their daughter hostage. This scammer also put a woman on the phone posing as the daughter. $1000 was demanded for her safe return. As with most scams, the scammer demanded payment in gift cards.

    Even with this new variation of the virtual kidnapping scam, your reaction should always be the same. Call the person that’s been supposedly kidnapped and make sure that they’re ok. In an instance like this, you can also call police wherever the accident is supposed to have taken place, and they can tell you if a crash happened or not. What you shouldn’t do is panic. Please keep in mind that according to law enforcement kidnappings for ransom are quite rare in the US. Once the scammer knows they have you reeled in, they can use this emotional extortion to take a large sum of money from you.

     
c
Compose new post
j
Next post/Next comment
k
Previous post/Previous comment
r
Reply
e
Edit
o
Show/Hide comments
t
Go to top
l
Go to login
h
Show/Hide help
shift + esc
Cancel